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Tasvîr-i Efkâr

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Tasvîr-i Efkâr
Cover page of Tasvîr-i Efkâr dated 29 October 1915 featuring Mustafa Kemal (left) and Cevat Pasha
Founder(s)İbrahim Şinasi
Founded27 June 1862
LanguageTurkish
Ceased publication4 March 1925
HeadquartersIstanbul
Country
  • Ottoman Empire
  • Turkey

Tasvîr-i Efkâr (Ottoman Turkish: تسویر افکار, lit.'Herald of Ideas') was a long term Ottoman newspaper which existed between 1862 and 1925 with some interruptions. The paper was one of the early privately-owned publications in the Ottoman Empire.[1] It is known for its founder İbrahim Şinasi and for its leading editors, including Namık Kemal and Yunus Nadi.

History and profile

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First period (1862–1868)

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Tasvîr-i Efkâr was first published on 27 June 1862[2] although its license was granted on 14 May 1861.[3] The paper came out twice per week.[4] Its founder and chief editor was İbrahim Şinasi.[5][6] In the first issue he declared the goal of the paper as expressing the voice of public.[7] Soon after its start Tasvîr-i Efkâr enjoyed higher levels of circulation.[6] Şinasi edited the paper until 30 January 1865 when he left the Empire for Europe.[3] During his editorship Tasvîr-i Efkâr featured less news reports on the activities of the upper classes and the travels of Sultan Abdülaziz.[8] Instead, it focused on news reports related to public such as fires, taxes, crop production, commercial and educational activities.[8] During the same period Tasvîr-i Efkâr featured numerous poems by Şinasi who also published the Turkish translations of French poems.[9]

Şinasi was replaced by Namık Kemal as editor-in-chief who expanded the coverage of Tasvîr-i Efkâr.[4] Namık Kemal's term lasted until 1867 when he had to leave the Empire due to the increased pressure of the government on him.[4] The paper was edited by Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem and Kayazâde Reşad until its closure in 1868.[4] It produced 835 issues during this period.[2][4]

Second period (1909–1925)

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The license of the paper was sold to Ebüzziyâ Mehmed Tevfik in 1909, and it was redesigned under the title Yeni Tasvîr-i Efkâr of which the first issue appeared on 31 May 1909.[3] Süleyman Nazif collaborated with Ebüzziyâ Mehmed Tevfik in the publication of the paper, but he left it soon.[10] The paper was closed down many times during this period, but resumed publication under different titles.[3] Following the death of Ebüzziyâ Mehmed Tevfik in January 1913 the paper was owned by his children, Talha and Velid Ebüzziya.[3][5]

The editor of the paper under the ownership of the Ebüzziya brothers was Yunus Nadi.[11] Its publisher was Matbaa-i Ebüzziya which was based in Nuruosmaniye district of Istanbul.[5] The paper supported the independence movement led by Mustafa Kemal because of which it was frequently censored.[3][11] Tasvîr-i Efkâr is the first Ottoman paper which published a photograph and biography of Mustafa Kemal.[11] The paper folded immediately after the occupation of Istanbul in 1918, and its owners exiled into Malta.[3]

Following the return of Velid Ebüzziya to Istanbul in 1921 the paper was restarted with the title Tevhîd-i Efkâr on 2 July.[11] Because he could not get a license for its original title.[5] The paper was published until 4 March 1925 when it was closed by the Independence Tribunal in Istanbul.[11] The reason for its closure was its oppositional stance against the Turkish government.[5][11] The court employed the Law for the Maintenance of Order, which had been put into force after the riot led by Sheikh Said, as a basis for its ban.[5]

Contributors

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Early contributors of Tasvîr-i Efkâr included Şinasi's close friends Nâmık Kemal, Ahmed Vefik Paşa and Sâmipaşazâde Suphi.[3] In the late Ottoman period when the paper was owned by the Ebüzziya brothers notable contributors were Zekeriya Sertel, Ahmet Rasim, Cenap Şehabattin, Ruşen Eşref, Abdülhak Hamit, and Yahya Kemal.[11]

Spin-off

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The paper was restarted with its original title, Tasvîr-i Efkâr, by Velid Ebüzziya and Ziyad Ebüzziya on 2 May 1940 and existed until the death of Velid Ebüzziya on 12 January 1945.[5] It adopted a pro-Nazi approach and supported the Turkey's entry into World War II.[12] Then, Ziyad Ebüzziya and Cihad Baban continued to publish it under the title Tasvir which folded in 1949.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Shin Sasaki (2018). "Mixed Dynamism of Relief in the Late Ottoman Empire: The Historical Actualities of Fundraising Campaigns". The Journal of Ottoman Studies. 51 (51): 165. doi:10.18589/oa.591829.
  2. ^ a b Önder Mezili (2021). "Osmanlı Aydınlarından Ali Kemal'in Türk Gazetesi ve Gazetenin Yayın Anlayışına Dair Bir Değerlendirme". İçtimaiyat (in Turkish). 5 (2): 350. doi:10.33709/ictimaiyat.958739.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nesimi Yazıcı (2011). Tasvîr-i Efkâr (in Turkish). Vol. 40. İslâm Ansiklopedisi. pp. 138–140.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Tasvir-i Efkâr Gazetesi" (in Turkish). Eski Eserler. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Fatma Esen (2020). Censorship under allied occupation of İstanbul: The analysis of Tasvir-i Efkar Newspaper (MA thesis). Sabancı University. pp. 8, 10–11.
  6. ^ a b Erol A.F. Baykal (2019). The Ottoman Press (1908-1923). Leiden: Brill. p. 34. doi:10.1163/9789004394889. ISBN 978-90-04-39488-9.
  7. ^ Belkıs Ulusoy Nalcıoğlu (January 2012). "Birth Pangs of Turkish Magazine Publishing". Erciyes İletişim Dergisi. 2 (4): 85.
  8. ^ a b Gül Karagöz-Kızılca (2017). "News Publishing as a Reflection of Public Opinion: The Idea of News during the Ottoman Financial Crises". In Anthony Gorman; Didier Monciaud (eds.). The Press in the Middle East and North Africa, 1850–1950: Politics, Social History and Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 39. ISBN 9781474430630. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt1tqx9c6.5.
  9. ^ Elisabeth Kendall (2002). "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century". In Leila Fawaz; C. A. Bayly; Robert Ilbert (eds.). Modernity and Culture. New York Chichester; West Sussex: Columbia University Press. pp. 330–343. doi:10.7312/fawa11426-018. ISBN 978-0-231-11427-1.
  10. ^ Syed Tanvir Wasti (2014). "Süleyman Nazîf – A Multi-Faceted Personality". Middle Eastern Studies. 50 (3): 495. doi:10.1080/00263206.2014.886571.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Ali Demirel (July 2018). The Relations of İstanbul and Ankara within the press of Turkish national struggle (1918-1922) (MA thesis). Middle East Technical University. pp. 14–15. hdl:11511/27502.
  12. ^ Nurhan İnce (1974). Problems and politics in Turkish foreign policy, 1960-1966. With emphasis on Turkish–United States Relations, the Cyprus question, and the leftist movement (Ph.D. thesis). University of Kentucky. p. 24. ISBN 9798641435640. ProQuest 302704119.