Young Turks

The Young Turks (Turkish: Jön Türkler (plural) or Turkish: Genç Türkler (plural), from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a secularist Turkish nationalist reform party in the early twentieth century, favoring reformation of the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Empire. Officially known as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), their leaders led a rebellion against Sultan Abdul Hamid II. They ruled the Ottoman empire from 1908 until the end of World War I in November 1918.

Like other revolutionary societies, the Young Turks had their origins in secret societies of "progressive medical university students and military cadets", driven underground along with all political dissent after the Constitution was abolished by Hamid. CUP favored a re-installation of the short-lived constitution of 1876, written by progressive Midhat Pasha. They established the second constitutional era in 1908 with what would become known as the Young Turk Revolution.

In 1913, as the government was losing the Second Balkan War, Committee of Union and Progress seized power. The CUP-led government was headed by Minister of the Interior and Grand Vizier, Mehmed Talaat (1874–1921). Working with him were Minister of War, Ismail Enver (1881–1922) and Minister of the Navy, Ahmed Djemal Pasha (1872–1922). Until German archives were opened, historians treated the Three Pashas' government as a "Dictatorial Triumvirate". Now it appears that the party was rent by internal disagreements and loosely headed by a large number of the party's Central Committee.

The term "Young Turks" has since come to signify any groups or individuals inside an organization who seek prominence and power.