Media of the Ottoman Empire
There were multiple newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire.
European influences
The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were owned by foreigners living there who wanted to make propaganda about the Western world. The earliest was printed in September 1795 by the Palais de France in Pera, 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. 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, was planned to be issued, with the purpose of disseminating in Egypt the ideals of the French Revolution. 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, the local establishment of the gazette Vekâyi-i Mısriyye, written in Ottoman Turkish in one column with an Arabic translation in a second column. It was later edited in Arabic only, under the Arabic title "Al-Waqaʾiʿ al-Miṣriyya".
The first official gazette of the Ottoman State was published in 1831, on the order of Mahmud II. It was entitled "Le 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", which would be effectively translating Le 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, was published by an Englishman, William Churchill, in 1840. The first private newspaper to be published by Turkish journalists, Tercüman-ı Ahvâl, 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. 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.
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. 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.
By city
The Ottoman capital, Constantinople, was the centre of the press activity.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. 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.
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, and Kendall stated that the potential audience base being "extremely limited" frustrated the development of these journals. An 1875 stamp duty caused, in Kendall's eyes, "more marginal" ones to vanish.
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire Constantinople, now Istanbul, remained the centre of Turkish journalism.
Turkish
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.Ottoman Turkish publications included:Alemdar – Anti-CUP newspaper, eventually became the organ of the Friends of England AssociationAmele Gazetesi – Organ for the Socialist Workers' Federation Anadolu Ajansı – "Anatolia Agency," Newspaper agency for the Turkish nationalist movement
- Aydede – Periodical under Refik Halit Karay Aydınlık – Organ of the Communist Party of Turkey Basiret – Conservative anti-Western pan-Islamist newspaperCerîde-i Havâdis – which included a supplement called Ruzname Ceride-i-Havadis. It was the first privately published Ottoman Turkish publication in the Ottoman Empire. It was founded by William Churchill.Cerîde-i Askeriyye – Official newspaper of the armyDiyojen – First satirical magazine, banned by authoritiesCem/''Djem – Satirical magazine during the Second Constitutional Era, edited by Cemil Cem, banned by authoritiesCerîde-i Ticaret Güleryüz – Satirical magazine Hadika – Young Ottoman publication, edited by Ebüzziya TevfikHakikat – Journal of the War MinistryHakimiyet-i Milliye – Organ for the Turkish NationalistsHamiyet - MagazineHanımlara Mahsus Gazete – First long standing Ottoman media written for women, by women. Supporter of Yıldız PalaceHarp Mecmuası – Journal of the War MinistryHayâl – Edited by Ebüzziya TevfikHürriyet – Newspaper of Namık Kemal'sİbret – Istanbul newspaper with Namık Kemal as chief editor, previously owned by a Christianİkdam – One of the most popular newspapers of the capitalİnkilâb – Young Ottoman publicationİnsaniyet – Ottoman Socialist Party organİstanbul Gazetesiİstikbal – Young Ottoman publication by Ali Şefkatiİştirak – Organ for the Socialist Party of Turkeyİttihad – CUP organKalem – Satirical magazine during the Second Constitutional Era, edited by Cemil Cem and Refik Halit KarayKaragöz – Satirical magazineKurtuluş – Turkish Workers and Peasants Socialist Party organMalumat – Supporter of Yıldız PalaceMecmua-i Ebüzziya – Established by Ebüzziya Tevfik in 1880 and running until 1887, then restarting in 1894, and ending in 1912.Mecmua-i FünunMecmua-i İbretnüma – Published from 1865 to 1866 in Cemiyet-i Kitabet, it had sixteen issues.Mecmua İber-u İntibah – In operation from 1862 to 1864, according to Kendall, it was the "first specialized literary journal" to ever be published in Turkey. The total number of issues is eight.Medeniyet – Ottoman Socialist Party organMes'ûliyet – Freedom and Accord Party organMeşveret – Ahmet Rıza's outfit as a Committee of Union and Progress organ, had a French supplementalMillet – Newspaper during the Second Constitutional EraMinber – Organ of the Ottoman Liberal People's PartyMir'at – Young Ottoman publicationMizan – Young Turk publication of Mizancı MuratMuharrir - In operation from 1876 to 1878, it was operated by Ebüzziya Tevfik and had a total of eight issues.Muhbir – Newspaper of Ali SuaviOsmanlı – First a CUP organ, then a liberal organPeyam – Ali Kemal's attempt at a newspaper until it was shuttered by censors.Peyam-ı Sabah – Merger of Ali Kemal's defunct Peyam and Mihran Efendi's SabahRavzat-ül Maarif - Published from 1870 to 1871, focusing on science and literature, it had six issues.Rumeli – CUP organSaadet – Continuation of Ceride-i HavadisSabahSarajSerbestî – Liberal newspaper, whose editor in chief was Hasan Fehmi BeyServet – Established by ethnic Greek journalist Demetrius Nicolaides in 1889Servet-i Fünun – It was at first a supplement of Servet.Sosyalist – Ottoman Socialist Party organŞûrâ-yı Ümmet – CUP organTarık Tanin – CUP organTasvîr-i Efkâr – First a Young Ottoman publication, before reopening in 1909.Takvîm-i Vekâyi – Official imperial newspaper Takvîmli Gazete – Continuation of Alemdar Teminat – Freedom and Accord Party organ Terakki – Private Initiative and Decentralization Committee organ
- Terakki-i Muhadderat – Woman's magazineTercümân-ı Hakîkat - Established in 1878 by Ahmed MidhatTercüman-ı AhvâlTeşrih – Continuation of AlemdarTürk – Young Turk magazine edited by Ali KemalTürk İktisad Mecmuası/Revue Économique de TurquieTürkiye'de Emraz-ı Etfal/La Pédiatrie en TurquieUlûm – Young Ottoman publicationUlûm-u İktisadiye ve İçtimaiye Mecmuası – Liberal economic journalVakit – Young Ottoman publicationVolkan'' – Islamist newspaper published by Derviş Vahdeti, closed after the 31 March Incident
Local newspapers
Hukuk-u Beşer – İzmirKöylü – İzmirKürdistan – Young Turk publication with ties to the CUPPeyman – DiyarbakırTuna – RusçukÜmid – CyprusYeni Asır – SalonicaYeni Edirne – EdirneThere was a Karamanli Turkish publication, Anatoli, published from 1850 to 1922, made by Evangelinos Misalaidis. Other publications in Karamanli were Anatol Ahteri, Angeliaforos, Angeliaforos coçuklar içun, Şafak, and Terakki. 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, 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.
Arabic
Al-Bassir – Young Turk publication by Emin ArslanAl-Tanbih, The first Arabic-language newspaper in Egypt, published by the French, and headquartered in Alexandria, around the start of the 1800s.Jurnāl al-Khidīw, The first official Egyptian newspaper, in Arabic and based in Cairo, was and appeared over ten years after al-Tanbih.Al Jawaib, began in Constantinople, established by Fāris al-Shidyāq a.k.a. Ahmed Faris Efendi, after 1860. It published Ottoman laws in Arabic, including the Ottoman Constitution of 1876.Al-Karmil – Anti-Zionist newspaper owned by Najib NassarAl-Quds – Founded by Jurji Habib HananiaAl-Quds Al-SharifSuriyaSeveral provincial newspapers were in Arabic.Falastin – For JaffaHadiqat al-Akhbar – in Beirut. Published by Khalīl al-Khūrī, it began in 1858. First provincial Arabic newspaper Al-Rāʾid at-Tūnisī – For TunisZevra/al-Zawrāʾ – a bilingual Ottoman Turkish-Arabic paper in Iraq, the former was established in 1860 and the latter in 1869.
Armenian
JamanakMassisLirakir, Armenian version of ''Takvim-i Vekayi''Bulgarian
Bulgarian newspapers in the late Ottoman period published in Constantinople wereMakedoniyaNapredŭk or Napredǎk, Pravo, TurtsiyaProvincial newspapers:Dunav/Tuna; Official newspaper of Danube Vilayet, Iztočno Vreme; Zornitsa - published by Protestant Christian missionaries from the United States,
Greek
There was a bilingual Turkish-Greek version of Vekayi-i giridiyye.There was a Greek-language newspaper established in 1861,Anatolikos Astēr – Konstantinos Photiadis was the editor in chief, and Demetrius Nicolaides served as an editor.Avgi –.ChrysalisKōnstantinoupolis – In 1867 Nicolaides established his own Greek-language newspaperNeologos Pandora Takvim-i Vekayi Greek versionThrakē –
Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)
There were many Ladino newspapers in Smyrna, including La Buena Esperanza. First of them was also entitled La Buena Esperanza which was published briefly in 1842. In 1860 Jurnal Yisraelit was established by Yehezkel Gabay.Persian
There was a Persian-language paper, Akhtar, which was established in 1876 and published Persian versions of Ottoman government documents, including the 1876 Constitution.Western languages
French
There had been a.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.
The cities of Constantinople, Beirut, Salonika, and Smyrna had domestically published French-language newspapers. 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. French-language journalism was initially centred in Smyrna but by the 1860s it began shifting towards Constantinople. In addition, newspapers written in other western European languages had editions in French or editions with portions in French. 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. Takvim-i Vekayi had versions in French.
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.
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. 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.
French-language publications included
Annonces-Journal de Constantinople Annuaire des commerçants de Smyrne et de l'Anatolie Annuaire oriental du commerce L'Aurore Correspondance d'Orient Courrier de Constantinople : moniteur du commerce Courrier de Smyrne Gazette Médicale d'OrientGazette du LevantGénie Civil OttomanHadiqat Al Akhbar. Journal de Syrie et Liban, the French edition of Hadiqat Al AkhbarImpartial de SmyrneJournal de Constantinople Journal de Constantinople et des intérêts orientauxLe Journal de Salonique Journal de Smyrne L'Abeille du BosphoreL'Étoile du BosphoreLa Décade égyptienneLa Patrie: Journal ottoman publié en français politique, littéraire, scientifique, industriel, financier et commerciel illustré La Pédiatrie en Turquie - Türkiye'de Emraz-ı EtfalLa Turquie. Journal politique, commercial, industriel et financierLa Turquie Le Courier de l'Égypte Le Moniteur ottomanLe Phare d'Alexandrie - Began in 1842. Kendall stated that since the newspaper existed for a "long" period of time, its notability stemmed from "its steady stimulation of Alexandrian culture" in its period.Le Phare du Bosphore - Established in 1870, it was edited by Kiriakopoulos. It moved to Egypt, and ended in 1890.Le Stamboul The Levant HeraldThe Levant Times and Shipping Gazette - In French and EnglishPresse d'OrientMiscellanea Ægyptica - Established in 1843, published by the Association littéraire d'Egypte, the first cultural-centred publication in EgyptRevue Bibliographique de Philologie et d'HistoireTürk İktisad Mecmuası - Revue Économique de TurquieRevue commerciale du Levant - of the French chamber of commerceRevue Médico-PharmaceutiqueStamboul - Kendall wrote that when Regis Delbeuf, a literature teacher from France, became the editor, the publication experienced "the greatest cultural impact".Other Western languages
There were two English-French papers: Levant Herald and The Levant Times and Shipping Gazette.Levant Trade Review, by the American Chamber of Commerce, is another English publication.
There was an Italian newspaper established in the city of Alexandria in 1858 and 1859 entitled Il Progreso.
The bilingual Osmanischer Lloyd was published between 1908 and 1918.