Abstract
With the initiatives of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Election Law, which was reorganized on October 29, 1923, was submitted to the approval of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. According to the first article of the amended law text, sovereignty was given to the nation unconditionally and the government of the Turkish State was accepted as the Republic. One of the reforms made in line with the conditions of the time and in the process was the changes made in the Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Election Law dated 5 December 1934. These changes were enacted in the 8 February 1935 general elections. Thus, both women were given the right to vote and be elected, and the minority had the right to be elected as an independent deputy. In this study, Berç Keresteciyan Türker, the independent deputy candidate of Afyonkarahisar province in the 8 February 1935 parliamentary elections, is discussed. How Keresteciyan's candidacy was reflected in the press, what statements he made to the press, what was the approach of the Istanbul Armenian Association and what activities he was carried out in are discussed. Thus presidential republic archive documents, Minutes of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, the news and photographs in the newspapers Cumhuriyet, Akşam, Son Posta, Milliyet, Anadolu, Afyonnews, Kocatepe, Yozgat, YeniŞafak, Hürriyet and Zaman were used. In this regard the developments on the Election Day, the ceremony, the details of the ballot box procession and the Keresteciyan is parliamentary speeches were revealed.