Mihri Hanım's visit to the journalist Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and the convicted ex-minister of finance, Cavit Bey, gave rise to criticisms regarding her behaviour. In response, in 1919 she and her students paid a visit to the newspaper "Tanin", and denounced the allegations. Her close relations with the İttihat ve Terraki Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress; CUP) eventually caused Mihri Hanım to leave Istanbul, occupied by Allied powers, for Italy in 1919. Within a year after her return, she resumed teaching at the School of Fine Arts for Girls.