On the 18 March, the Ottoman parliament sent a protest to the Allies. The document stated that it was unacceptable to arrest five of its members. This show of force by the British had left the Sultan as a puppet and sole political authority of the Empire. But the Sultan depended on their power to keep what was left of the empire. However this also gave Mustafa Kemal legitimacy to be de facto leader of national resistance against the Allied Powers.