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Media of the Ottoman Empire

There were multiple newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire.

European influences

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The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were owned by foreigners living there who wanted to make propaganda about the Western world.[1] The earliest was printed in September 1795 by the Palais de France in Pera (now Beyoğlu), during the embassy of Raymond de Verninac-Saint-Maur. It was issued fortnightly under the title "Bulletin de Nouvelles", until March 1796, it seems. Afterwards, it was published under the name "Gazette française de Constantinople" from September 1796 to May 1797, and "Mercure Oriental" from May to July 1797.[2] Its main purpose was to convey information about the politics of Post-Revolutionary France to foreigners living in Istanbul; therefore, it had little impact on local population.

In 1800, during the French occupation of Egypt, a newspaper in Arabic, al-Tanbih (The Alert), was planned to be issued, with the purpose of disseminating in Egypt the ideals of the French Revolution.[3] It was founded by the general Jacques-François Menou, who appointed Ismail al-Khashab as its editor. However, there is doubt the newspaper was actually ever printed. Menou eventually capitulated after Alexandria was besieged by British forces in 1801.

In 1828, Khedive of Egypt Muhammad Ali ordered, as part of the drastic reforms he was implementing in the province,[a] the local establishment of the gazette Vekayi-i Misriye (Egyptian Affairs), written in Ottoman Turkish in one column with an Arabic translation in a second column (Ottoman Turkish text was in the right one and Arabic text in the left one). It was later edited in Arabic only, under the Arabic title "al-Waqa'i` al-Misriyya" (The Egyptian Affairs).[5]

 
Takvim-i Vekayi (Calendar of Affairs).

The first official gazette of the Ottoman State was published in 1831, on the order of Mahmud II. It was entitled "Moniteur ottoman", perhaps referring to the French newspaper Le Moniteur universel. Its weekly issues were written in French and edited by Alexandre Blacque at the expense of the Porte. A few months later, a firman of the sultan ordered that a Turkish gazette be published under the named "Takvim-i Vekayi" (Calendar of Affairs), which would be effectively translating the Moniteur ottoman, and issued irregularly until November 4, 1922. Laws and decrees of the sultan were published in it, as well as descriptions of court festivities.

The first non-official Turkish newspaper, Ceride-i Havadis (Register of Events), was published by an Englishman, William Churchill, in 1840. The first private newspaper to be published by Turkish journalists, Tercüman-ı Ahvâl (Ottoman Turkish: Interpreter of Events), was founded by İbrahim Şinasi and Agah Efendi and issued in October 1860; the owners stated that "freedom of expression is a part of human nature", thereby initiating an era of free press as inspired by the ideals of 18th century French Enlightenment.[6] In the meantime, the first private newspaper written solely in Arabic, Mir'at al-ahwal, had been founded by a Syrian poet, Rizqallah Hassun, in 1855, but it had been suspended a year later by Ottoman authorities because of its critical tone regarding their policies. Subsequently, several newspapers flourished in the provinces. A new press code inspired by French law, Matbuat Nizamnamesi, was issued in 1864, accompanied by the establishment of a censorship office.[6]

When Sultan Abdulhamid II revoked the constitution, Ottomans established newspapers based in foreign countries as they felt they could no longer operate freely in the empire.[7] Elisabeth Kendall, author of "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century," wrote that therefore by the 1880s "purer cultural journalism" became the focus of publications that remained in the imperial capital.[8]

By city

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The Ottoman capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), was the centre of the press activity.[9]

In 1876 there were forty-seven journals published in Constantinople. Most were in minority and foreign languages, and thirteen of them were in Ottoman Turkish.[10] Many newspapers in non-Muslim minority and foreign languages were produced in Galata, with production in daylight hours and distribution at nighttime; Ottoman authorities did not allow production of the Galata-based newspapers at night.[11]

Kendall wrote that Constantinople by the 1870s lacked specialised literary journals found in Alexandria, Egypt. What journals that were in Constantinople had a general focus,[12] and Kendall stated that the potential audience base being "extremely limited" frustrated the development of these journals.[7] An 1875 stamp duty caused, in Kendall's eyes, "more marginal" ones to vanish.[7]

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire Constantinople, now Istanbul, remained the centre of Turkish journalism.[9]

Turkish

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Vekayi-i giridiyye, a newspaper published in Ortoman Egypt after 1830, was the first newspaper in the Turkish language in the empire. It also had a bilingual Turkish-Greek version.[13]

Ottoman Turkish publications included:

Local newspapers

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There was a Karamanli Turkish (Turkish in Greek characters) publication, Anatoli, published from 1850 to 1922,[19] made by Evangelinos Misalaidis. Other publications in Karamanli were Anatol Ahteri (Ανατόλ Αχτερί), Angeliaforos, Angeliaforos coçuklar içun, Şafak (Σαφάκ), and Terakki (Τερακκή). The second and third were created by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Demetrius Nicolaides also applied to make his own Karamanli publication, Asya ("Asia"), but was denied. Evangelina Baltia and Ayșe Kavak, authors of "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century," wrote that they could find no information explaining why Nicolaides' proposal was turned down.[20]

Arabic

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See also: History of Palestinian journalism

Several provincial newspapers were in Arabic.[21]

Armenian

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Bulgarian

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Bulgarian newspapers in the late Ottoman period published in Constantinople were

  • Makedoniya
  • Napredŭk or Napredǎk ("Progress"),
  • Pravo,[14]
  • Turtsiya

Provincial newspapers:

Greek

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There was a bilingual Turkish-Greek version of Vekayi-i giridiyye (Κρητική Εφημερίς in Greek).[13]

There was a Greek-language newspaper established in 1861,

Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)

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A 1902 Issue of La Epoka, a Ladino newspaper from Salonica (Thessaloniki)

There were many Ladino newspapers in Smyrna, including La Buena Esperanza.[28] First of them was also entitled La Buena Esperanza which was published briefly in 1842.[29] In 1860 Jurnal Yisraelit was established by Yehezkel Gabay (1825-1896).

Persian

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Reprint of year three (January 1877-January 1878) of Akhtar ("The Star"), a newspaper in Persian

There was a Persian-language paper, Akhtar ("The Star"), which was established in 1876 and published Persian versions of Ottoman government documents, including the 1876 Constitution.[21]

Western languages

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French

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The French had also established a newspaper in Constantinople in 1795, but it closed as French journalists moved their base to Alexandria, Egypt after the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.[10]

The cities of Constantinople (Istanbul), Beirut, Salonika (Thessaloniki), and Smyrna (İzmir) had domestically-published French-language newspapers.[30] The publications were also active in the eastern Mediterranean Sea area.

Non-Muslim ethnic minorities in the empire used French as a lingua franca and therefore used these publications. In addition French businesspeople and vocational workers used French-language media to get in touch with clients in the empire.[31] French-language journalism was initially centred in Smyrna but by the 1860s it began shifting towards Constantinople.[10] In addition, newspapers written in other western European languages had editions in French or editions with portions in French.[30] In the history of the empire over 400 titles of periodicals were partially or entirely in the French language, with about 66% fully in French and the rest with other languages; the total includes about 131 titles from Ottoman Egypt.[31] Takvim-i Vekayi had versions in French.[13]

Non-Muslim ethnic minorities in the empire used French as a lingua franca and therefore used these publications. In addition French businesspeople and vocational workers used French-language media to get in touch with clients in the empire.[31]

Lorans Tanatar Baruh of SALT and Sara Yontan Musnik of the National Library of France stated that the post-1918 Ottoman government favored the French-language media.[31] The use of French continued by the time the empire ended in 1923, and remained for about a decade more in the Republic of Turkey.[31]

French-language publications included

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Other Western languages

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There were two English-French papers: Levant Herald and The Levant Times and Shipping Gazette.[52][51]

Levant Trade Review, by the American Chamber of Commerce, is another English publication.[56]

There was an Italian newspaper established in the city of Alexandria in 1858 and 1859 entitled Il Progreso.[10]

The bilingual (German-French) Osmanischer Lloyd was published between 1908 and 1918.[57]

Language unknown

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The first theatre journal in Turkey, established in 1874, was Tiyatro. Agop Baronyan created it.[7]

See also

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For modern-day territories once a part of the empire:

Notes

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  1. ^ Muhammad Ali had founded the first Egyptian printing office in Bulaq in 1821, so as to support his educational programme by producing books for the newly opened government schools. The printing press which the French had brought with them for their own use two decades earlier had left no traces.[4]

Sources

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  • Ágoston, Gábor; Masters, Bruce Alan (2008). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0816062591.
  • E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. 1987.
  • Groc, Gérard; Çağlar, İbrahim (1985). La presse française de Turquie de 1795 à nos jours : histoire et catalogue (in French).
  • Kendall, Elisabeth (2002). "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century". In Fawaz, Leila Tarazi; C. A. Bayly (eds.). Modernity and Culture: From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. Columbia University Press. pp. 330-. ISBN 9780231114271. - Also credited: Robert Ilbert (collaboration). Old ISBN 0231114273.
  • Stavrianos, Leften Stavros (2000) [first published 1958]. The Balkans since 1453. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-0814797662.*Wendell, Charles (January 1972). The Evolution of the Egyptian National Image. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520021112.
  • Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. pp. 21–51.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (info page on book at Martin Luther University)
  • Tripp, Charles, ed. (1993). Contemporary Egypt: Through Egyptian Eyes. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415061032.

References

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  1. ^ Stavrianos, p. 211.
  2. ^ Groc & Çağlar, p. 6.
  3. ^ Wendell, p. 143.
  4. ^ E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, p. 952.
  5. ^ Tripp (ed.), p. 2; Amin, Fortna & Frierson, p. 99; Hill, p. 172.
  6. ^ a b Ágoston & Masters, p. 433.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Kendall, p. 338.
  8. ^ a b c Kendall, p. 340.
  9. ^ a b Kendall, p. 339.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kendall, p. 331.
  11. ^ Balta, Evangelia; Ayșe Kavak (28 February 2018). "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century. Following the trail of Dimitris Nikolaidis in the Ottoman archives". In Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Press and Mass Communication in the Middle East: Festschrift for Martin Strohmeier. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 33-. ISBN 9783863095277. - Volume 12 of Bamberger Orientstudien - Old ISBN 3863095278 // Cited: p. 40
  12. ^ Kendall, p. 337.
  13. ^ a b c d e Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 22 (PDF p. 24)
  14. ^ a b c Strauss, Johann. "Twenty Years in the Ottoman capital: the memoirs of Dr. Hristo Tanev Stambolski of Kazanlik (1843-1932) from an Ottoman point of view." In: Herzog, Christoph and Richard Wittmann (editors). Istanbul - Kushta - Constantinople: Narratives of Identity in the Ottoman Capital, 1830-1930. Routledge, 10 October 2018. ISBN 1351805223, 9781351805223. p. 267.
  15. ^ a b c Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 29 (PDF p. 31)
  16. ^ Kendall, p. 330. CITED: p. 342.
  17. ^ a b "Türk İktisad Mecmuası - Revue Économique de Turquie". 15 June 1921.
  18. ^ a b "La Pédiatrie en Turquie - Türkiye'de Emraz-ı Etfal". 28 February 1910.
  19. ^ Michael, Michalis N.; Börte Sagaster; Theoharis Stavrides (2018). "Introduction". In Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Press and Mass Communication in the Middle East: Festschrift for Martin Strohmeier. University of Bamberg Press. pp. v-. ISBN 9783863095277. Cited: p. xi
  20. ^ Balta, Evangelia; Ayșe Kavak (28 February 2018). Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century. Following the trail of Dimitris Nikolaidis in the Ottoman archives. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 33-. ISBN 9783863095277. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) // Cited: p. 42
  21. ^ a b c Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 25 (PDF p. 27)
  22. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 34 (PDF p. 36)
  23. ^ Strauss, Johann. "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire" (Chapter 7). In: Murphey, Rhoads (editor). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge, 7 July 2016. (ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442), Google Books PT192.
  24. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 26 (PDF p. 28)
  25. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 32 (PDF p. 34)
  26. ^ Balta, Evangelia; Ayșe Kavak (28 February 2018). "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century. Following the trail of Dimitris Nikolaidis in the Ottoman archives". In Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Press and Mass Communication in the Middle East: Festschrift for Martin Strohmeier. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 33-. ISBN 9783863095277. - Volume 12 of Bamberger Orientstudien - Old ISBN 3863095278 // Cited: p. 37
  27. ^ a b Balta, Evangelia; Ayșe Kavak (28 February 2018). "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century. Following the trail of Dimitris Nikolaidis in the Ottoman archives". In Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Press and Mass Communication in the Middle East: Festschrift for Martin Strohmeier. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 33-. ISBN 9783863095277. - Volume 12 of Bamberger Orientstudien - Old ISBN 3863095278 // Cited: p. 34
  28. ^ Yvette Bürki (Autumn 2010). "The Ottoman Press at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century through the Salonica Newspapers La Época and El Avenir". European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe. 43 (2): 106. doi:10.3167/ej.2010.430210.
  29. ^ Johann Strauss (2003). "Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries)?". Middle Eastern Literatures. 6 (1): 43. doi:10.1080/14752620306881. S2CID 162158665.
  30. ^ a b Strauss, Johann. "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire" (Chapter 7). In: Murphey, Rhoads (editor). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge, 7 July 2016. (ISBN 1317118456, 9781317118459), p. 122.
  31. ^ a b c d e Baruh, Lorans Tanatar; Sara Yontan Musnik. "Francophone press in the Ottoman Empire". French National Library. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  32. ^ Annonces-Journal de Constantinople
  33. ^ Annuaire des commerçants de Smyrne et de l'Anatolie
  34. ^ Annuaire oriental du commerce
  35. ^ O'Malley, JP (7 September 2018). "Before the Holocaust, Ottoman Jews supported the Armenian genocide's 'architect'". Times of Israel. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  36. ^ "Correspondance d'Orient: revue économique, politique & littéraire / directeurs : Chekri-Ganem, Dr Georges Samné - 33 Years available - Gallica". gallica.bnf.fr.
  37. ^ "Courrier de Constantinople : Moniteur du commerce - 7 Years available - Gallica".
  38. ^ Gilles Kraemer, Trois siècles de presse francophone dans le monde, l'Harmattan, 1995, p. 72
  39. ^ Gazette Médicale d'Orient
  40. ^ Génie Civil Ottoman
  41. ^ Strauss, Johann. "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire" (Chapter 7). In: Murphey, Rhoads (editor). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge, 7 July 2016. (ISBN 1317118448, 9781317118442), Google Books PT192 and PT193.
  42. ^ Journal de Constantinople
  43. ^ "Journal de Constantinople et des intérêts orientaux - 4 Years available - Gallica".
  44. ^ "Journal de Smyrne : commercial, politique et littéraire - 1 Year available - Gallica". gallica.bnf.fr.
  45. ^ "L'Abeille du Bosphore : Revue bi-mensuelle d'Orient et d'Occident: Organe spécial des intérêts de l'Empire ottoman / Nicolas Nicolaïdès, directeur-fondateur - 1 Year available - Gallica".
  46. ^ "L'Étoile du Bosphore : Organe hebdomadaire pour la défense des intérêts français en Orient - 2 Years available - Gallica".
  47. ^ a b "Titres de presse francophone en Égypte". French National Library. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  48. ^ "La Patrie : Journal ottoman publié en français politique, littéraire, scientifique, industriel et commercial illustré / rédacteur en chef Jean Minassian". Gallica. 28 September 1910.
  49. ^ La Turquie. Journal politique, commercial, industriel et financier
  50. ^ "La Constitution : Journal français, quotidien, politique, commercial, financier". 22 September 1908.
  51. ^ a b Bradshaw's Continental Railway, Steam Transit, and General Guide, for Travellers Through Europe. W.J. Adams, 1875. p. 657.
  52. ^ a b "The Levant times and shipping gazette". 10 January 1874.
  53. ^ "Revue Bibliographique de Philologie et d'Histoire". 15 December 1874.
  54. ^ "Revue commerciale du Levant : Bulletin mensuel de la Chambre de commerce française de Constantinople". 31 August 1890.
  55. ^ Revue Médico-Pharmaceutique
  56. ^ Levant Trade Review, Volume 4. American Chamber of Commerce, 1914. p. 110.
  57. ^ Farah, Irmgard (1993). Die deutsche Pressepolitik und Propagandatätigkeit im osmanischen Reich von 1908-1918 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des "Osmanischen Lloyd" (in German). Orient-Institut der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-515-05719-6.

Further reading

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  • Baykal, Erol A. F. (2019). The Ottoman Press (1908-1923). Leiden-Boston : Brill
  • Koloğlu, Orhan (1992). "La presse turque en Crète". In Clayer, Nathalie; Alexandre Popovic; Thierry Zarcone (eds.). Presse turque et presse de Turquie. Actes des colloques d'Istanbul (in French). Istanbul-Paris: Isis. pp. 259–267.
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