Osmanoğlu family

Below is a list of people who would have been heirs to the Ottoman throne following the abolition of the sultanate on 1 November 1922. These people have not necessarily made any claim to the throne; for example Ertuğrul Osman said "Democracy works well in Turkey."

• Mehmed VI, the last Ottoman Sultan (1918-1922) then 36th Head of the House of Osman in exile (1922-1926).
• Abdulmejid II, cousin of Mehmed VI. Last Ottoman Caliph (1922-1924), 37th Head of the House of Osman following Mehmed VI Vahideddin's death (1926-1944).
• Ahmed Nihad, 38th Head of the House of Osman (1944-1954), grandson of Sultan Murad V.
• Osman Fuad, 39th Head of the House of Osman (1954-1973), half-brother of Ahmed IV Nihad.
• Mehmed Abdulaziz, 40th Head of the House of Osman (1973-1977), grandson of Sultan Abdulaziz.
• Ali Vâsib, 41st Head of the House of Osman (1977-1983), son of Ahmed IV Nihad.
• Mehmed Orhan, 42nd Head of the House of Osman (1983-1994), grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
• Ertuğrul Osman, 43rd Head of the House of Osman (1994-2009), grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. He is known in Turkey as "the Last Ottoman".
• Bayezid Osman, 44th Head of the House of Osman (2009-2017), great-grandson of Sultan Abdulmejid I.
• Dündar Ali Osman, 45th Head of the House of Osman (2017-2021), great-grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
• Harun Osman, 46th Head of the House of Osman (2021-present), great-grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Since the turn of the 21st century there has been a growing interest in the living members of the Ottoman family, both within Türkiye and abroad.

In 2006, family members met at Dolmabahçe Palace for the presentation of the documentary Osmanoğlu'nun Sürgünü (The Ottomans' Exile) produced by TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation). This documentary followed the stories of the members of the Ottoman family who went into exile in 1924, following the establishment of the Turkish Republic and the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate. It then follows the stories of their descendants, who now live in Türkiye, Europe, India, and North America, and throughout the Middle East. Extensive coverage of the 2006 event, and the success of the documentary series has dramatically raised the profile of the Imperial Family.

According to The New York Times, historians said that the show of reverence at the funeral of Imperial Prince Ertuğrul Osman in September 2009 was a "seminal moment in the rehabilitation of the Ottoman Empire".

The popularity of the historical television series Payitaht Abdulhamid about the Ottoman Empire has grown significantly in recent years in Turkey, and the Turkish government under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has encouraged a nostalgia for the greatness of the former empire, which is sometimes referred to as 'Neo-Ottomanism'.

An interview with Imperial Prince Mahmud by the Anatolian News Agency was published in several publications in Turkey and the UK.

Without exception, all high-ranking members of the Imperial Ottoman family were exiled in 1924. Most had never left their homeland before, and all were forced to make a new life abroad. The family departed from Sirkeci railway station, and dispersed across Asia, Europe, and the United States. In exile, the family lived in poverty. As the former Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin had settled in San Remo, many members of the family congregated in the South of France. After living in Switzerland for a short time, the last Caliph of Islam, Imperial Prince (Şehzade) Abdulmecid II, moved to the French Riviera, settling in Nice. The Turkish Republic had issued the exiled Ottoman family members travel documents but they were only valid for one year. Therefore, by 1925 members of the family were no longer able to travel. Prince (Şehzade) Ali Vâsib Efendi appealed to the French Government and succeeded in obtaining courtesy passports for them. The French Government also issued passports to the children of the members of the family who were born in exile. In the years since the exile was lifted in 1973, many members of the Ottoman family have obtained Turkish citizenship and hold Turkish passports.

Imperial Princes (Şehzades)

The formal way of addressing the male descendants of the Ottoman Sultans is Devletlu Necabetlu Şehzade Sultan (given name) Hazretleri Efendi, i.e. Sultan Imperial Prince (given name). According to genealogies of the House of Osman, had the Sultanate not been abolished, there would be twenty-three Imperial Princes in the line of succession after the head of the family, Harun Osman Efendi. The succession law used is agnatic seniority, with the succession passing to eldest male dynast.

Şehzade Harun Osman Efendi (b. 22 January 1932, Lebanon; family head since 2021) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II through Şehzade Mehmed Selim Efendi and his son Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkerim Efendi.)

1. Şehzade Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 7 July 1940, Egypt) (descendant of Murad V through Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, Ahmed IV and Ali I, and of Mehmed V through Ömer Hilmi and his daughter Mukbile Sultan)

1. Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin Efendi (b. 17 September 1947, Egypt) (descendant of Mehmed V)
2. Şehzade Roland Selim Kadir Efendi (b. 5 May 1949, Austria) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
3. Şehzade Selim Cem (Djem) Efendi (b. 5 September 1955, Germany) (descendant of Abdülmecid I)
4. Şehzade Orhan İbrahim Suleiman Saadeddin Efendi (b. 16 July 1959, Lebanon) (descendant of Abdulaziz)
5. Şehzade Mustafa Kemal Stockley Efendi (b. 1961) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
6. Şehzade Orhan Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 25 August 1963, Syria) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
7. Şehzade Eric Mehmed Ziyaeddin Nazim Efendi (b. 18 June 1966, America) (descendant of Mehmed V)
8. Şehzade Orhan Murad Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 26 December 1972, England) (descendant of Murad V through Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, Ahmed IV and Ali I, and Şehzade Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu Efendi)
9. Şehzade Francis Mahmud Namık Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 27 April 1975, England) (descendant of Mehmed V through Ömer Hilmi and Şehzade Mahmud Namık)
10. Şehzade René Osman Abdul Kadir Efendi (b. 23 August 1975, Austria) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
11. Şehzade Daniel Adrian Abdulhamid Kadir Efendi (b. 20 September 1977, Austria) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
12. Şehzade Abdulhamid Kayıhan Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 4 August 1979, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
13. Şehzade Selim Süleyman Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 15 December 1979, England) (descendant of Murad V through Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, Ahmed IV and Ali I, and Şehzade Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu Efendi)
14. Şehzade Nazım Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 24 September 1985, England) (descendant of Mehmed V)
15. Şehzade Yavuz Selim Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 22 February 1989, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
16. Şehzade Mehmed Süleyman Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 6 November 1989, Austria) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II and he is the son of Şehzade Mustafa Kemal Stockley Efendi)
17. Şehzade Turan Cem Osmanoglu Efendi (b. 7 January 2004, England) (descendant of Murad V through Ahmed IV )
18. Şehzade Tamer Nihad Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 15 April 2006, England) (descendant of Murad V through Ahmed IV )
19. Şehzade Muhammed Harun Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 1 December 2007, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
20. Şehzade Batu Bayezid Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 23 April 2008, England) (descendant of Murad V)
21. Şehzade Ziyaeddin Reşad Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 6 June 2012, England) (descendant of Mehmed V through Ömer Hilmi and Mahmud Namık)
22. Şehzade Cem Ömer Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 5 August 2015, England) (descendant of Mehmed V through Ömer Hilmi and Mahmud Namık)
23. Şehzade Abdülaziz Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 11 August 2016, Turkey) (grandson of Harun Osman and descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
24. Şehzade Mehmed Selimhan Osmanoğlu Efendi (b. 2024) (grandson of Harun Osman and descendant of Abdul Hamid II)

Imperial Princesses (Sultanas)

The formal way of addressing the female descendants of the Ottoman Sultans is Devletlû İsmetlu (given name) Sultân Aliyyetü'ş-Şân Hazretleri, i.e. Sultana (given name). According to genealogies of the House of Osman, had the Sultanate not been abolished, there would be eighteen Sultanas:

1. Margot Miriam Leyla Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 17 July 1947, Paris) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
2. Nilüfer Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 19 March 1953, Egypt) (descendant of Abdülmecid I)
3. Perihan Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 2 October 1963, Bulgaria) (descendant of Abdülaziz)
4. Ayşe Louise Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 21 March 1964, Turkey) (descendant of Mehmed V)
5. Gülhan Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 30 January 1968, Paris) (descendant of Abdülaziz)
6. Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 17 January 1969, Paris) (descendant of Murad V)
7. Nurhan Evanthia Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 27 November 1970, Greece) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
8. Nilhan Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 25 May 1987, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
9. Nermin Zoe Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 30 March 1988, Egypt) (descendant of Mehmed V)
10. Emma Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 1992, Damascus) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
11. Nilüfer Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 6 May 1995, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
12. Suzan Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 1997, The Netherlands) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
13. Ridwan Osmanoglu Sultan (b. 1998) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
14. Berna Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 1 October 1999) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
15. Kristin Koso Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 2000 Yerevan) (descendant of Mehmed V)
16. Asyahan Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 10 January 2004, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
17. Dilara Ayşe Osmanoğlu Sultan (Aaliyah Isabelle/Aliyya) (b. 22, June 2014, Turkey) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II through Şehzade Mehmed Selim and then to Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkerim.The only daughter of Şehzade Mehmed Süleyman)
18. Esma Emira Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 18 June 2016, Turkey) (descendant of Murad V through Ahmed IV and Ali I, and of Mehmed V through Ömer Hilmi)
19. Selin Osmanoğlu Sultan (b. 17 February 2022) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)

Sons of an Imperial Princess (Sultanzade)

Sultanzade is an ottoman title meaning "son of a sultan" or "son of a princess" used exclusively for the male-line children born to Imperial Princesses (Sultans)

1. Sultanzade Abbas Hilmi Beyefendi (b. 1941) (descendant of Abdülmecid II and Mehmed V)
2. Sultanzade Mehmed Erol Beyefendi (b. 1954) (descendant of Mehmed V)
3. Sultanzade Salih Beyefendi (b. 1955) (descendant of Mehmed V)
4. Sultanzade Ömer Beyefendi (b. 1959) (descendant of Mehmed V)
5. Sultanzade Osman Cem Beyefendi (b. 1963) (descendant of Mehmed V)
6. Sultanzade Zekeriya James Beyefendi (b. 1992) (descendant of Mehmed V)
7. Sultanzade Maximilian Ali Beyefendi (Maximillian Ali Sutton) (b. 5 January 2000) (descendant of Murad V and Mehmed V, eldest son of Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu Sultan)
8. Sultanzade Cosmo Tarık Beyefendi (Prince Cosmo Tarık Sutton) (b. 10 September 2001) (descendant of Murad V and Mehmed V)
9. Sultanzade Lysander Cengiz Beyefendi (Prince Lysander Cengiz Sutton) (b. 12 April 2003) (descendant of Murad V and Mehmed V)
10. Sultanzade Ferdinand Ziya Beyefendi (Prince Ferdinand Ziya Sutton) (b. 26 July 2006) (descendant of Murad V and Mehmed V)

Hanımsultan or “lady sultan” is a term for the daughters of an Imperial Princess

1. Hanzade Hanımsultan (b. 12 September 1903) (descendant of Murad V)
2. Nilülfer Hanımsultan (b. 4 January 1916) (descendant of Murad V)
3. Behiye Emel Nuricihan Hanımsultan (b. 15 June 1925) (descendant of Mehmed V)
4. Perizad Hanımsultan (b. 11 January 1936) (descendant of Mehmed V)
5. Sabiha Fazile Hanımsultan (b. 8 August 1941) (descendant of Mehmed V and Abdülmecid I)
6. Katharina Alia Schnelle Hanımsultan (b. 1980) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)
7. Tatyana Aliye Hanımsultan (Princess Tatyana Aliye Sutton) (b. 25 March 2005) (descendant of Murad V and Mehmed V, the eldest and only daughter of Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu Sultan)
8. Hanzade Hanımsultan Vatansever (b. 2 July 2013) (descendant of Abdul Hamid II)