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CENSORSHIP UNDER ALLIED OCCUPATION OF ISTANBUL: THE ANALYSIS OF TASVÎR-İ EFKÂR NEWSPAPER by FATMA ESEN Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabancı University March 2020 FATMA ESEN 2020 © All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT CENSORSHIP UNDER ALLIED OCCUPATION OF ISTANBUL: THE ANALYSIS OF TASVÎR-İ EFKÂR NEWSPAPER FATMA ESEN HISTORY M.A. THESIS, MARCH 2020 Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Cemil KOÇAK Keywords: Istanbul under Allied Occupation, the Censorship of the Ottoman Government, the Interallied Censorship, Tasvîr-i Efkâr This thesis aims to examine pre-print censorship in occupied Istanbul by analyzing the signs of censorship and the censored content in the Tasvîr-i Efkâr newspaper throughout the research period (November 1918-1922). Consisting of two main components, the first part approached the mechanism by questioning how was established, its workplace, who is involved, its guidelines, and alterations. The second component is an attempt to understand the censorship regime of the period with the analysis of Tasvîr-i Efkâr. Hence, it endeavors to evaluate the frequently seen censored content by analyzing them day-by-day and transforming its intensity into a systematical data. Thus, it attempted to demonstrate the observed restrictions not a constant policy against the Anatolian Movement, but a multi-component system having motivations, fluctuations in its intensity, alterations in the censored content, and the policies of governments. Therefore, the second chapter attempted to study the mechanism on the Istanbul press through two sub-sections; the censorship of the Ottoman government and the Interallied. The third chapter examines the newspaper in four-parts (1) the transition period, (2) the peak period of censorship, (3) of Congresses, and (4) the term between the Ali Rıza Paşa’s government and de jure occupation of Istanbul. Lastly, it questions why Tevhîd-i Efkâr was able to publish news about Anatolia enthusiastically despite the Interallied censorship and what were the censored contents between April 1921/August 1922. The three sub-chapters formed with the censorship peak points to seek the causes of censorship intensity, and the final writing examined how pre-print censorship was terminated. iv ÖZET İŞGAL ALTINDAKİ İSTANBUL’DA SANSÜR: TASVÎR-İ EFKÂR GAZETESİNİN İNCELENMESİ FATMA ESEN TARİH YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ, MART 2020 Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Cemil Koçak Anahtar Kelimeler: İşgal Altında İstanbul, Osmanlı Hükümeti Sansürü, Beyne’l- mütelifin Sansür, Tasvîr-i Efkâr Bu tez Tasvîr-i Efkâr gazetesinde sansürün işaretlerini ve içeriğini araştırma dönemi (Kasım 1918-1922) boyunca irdeleyerek işgal altındaki İstanbul’da kablet-tab (basım öncesi) sansürü incelemeyi amaçlamıştır. Çalışmanın ilk bölümü sansür mekanizmasının nasıl kurulduğunu, çalışma yerini, kimlerin mekanizmada rol aldığını, talimatnameleri ve ondaki değişimleri sorgular. İkinci bileşeni dönemin değişen sansür politikasını Tasvîr-i Efkâr’ı inceleyerek anlama çabasıdır. Bunun için gazetedeki sansür yoğunluğunu sistemsel bir veriye çevirmiş ve sansürlenen içeriği gün-be-gün inceleyerek sıklıkla görülen içeriği değerlendirmeye çalışmıştır. Böylelikle, görülen kısıtlamaların sadece Anadolu Hareketine yönelen sabit bir politika değil, kendi içinde motivasyona, yoğunluğunda dalgalanmalara, sansürlenen içerikte değişimlere, sansür uygulamasını hayata geçiren hükümetlerin politikalarına şahit olan çok bileşenli bir sistem olduğunu göstermeye çalışmıştır. Bu amaçla tezin ikinci bölümü Istanbul basını üzerindeki mekanizmayı iki alt bölümle araştırmaya çalışmıştır; Osmanlı hükümeti ve Beyne’l-mütelifin (İtilaf devletleri) sansürü. Üçüncü bölümü ise gazeteyi dört bölümde muayene eder: (1) geçiş dönemi, (2) sansürün en yoğun olduğu dönem, (3) Kongreler dönemi, (4) Ali Rıza Paşa hükümeti ve İstanbul’un meşru işgaline kadar olan devre. Son olarak Beyne’l-mütelifin sansürüne rağmen Tevhîd-i Efkâr’ın neden Anadoluyu destekleyici haberler yayımlayabildiğini ve Nisan 1921/Ağustos 1922 arasında nelerin sansürlendiğini sorgular. Üç alt bölüm sansür yoğunluğundaki nedenleri araştırmak için sansürün tepe noktaları ile oluşturulmuş ve son yazı kable’t-tab sansürünün nasıl kaldırıldığını sorgulamıştır. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Cemil Koçak for his patience, sincerity, and invaluable comments. Throughout the thesis, he has encouraged me to study on the subject, accepted me as his student and guided me with his way of perceiving the history. I am grateful to my examiner Selçuk Akşin Somel for leading me to look at the primary source of this thesis, Tasvîr-i Efkâr, providing his precious interpretations, and eye- opening feedbacks during the jury. I am also indebted many thanks to my examiner Fatih Bayram for kindly offering his very beneficial criticisms, comments and his detailed examination of my thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank Ayşe Özil, Bahadır Sürelli, Ferenc Csirkes, Hakan Erdem, Halil Berktay, Tülay Artan, and Zeynep Nevin Yelçe. I consider myself very lucky to have benefited from their historical knowledge, unique interpretations, and academic experiences. I owe many thanks to Erik J. Zürcher for accepting me as his research assistant at Leiden University where this thesis came into existence. Besides, I am grateful to Fikret Adanır since I benefited from his in-depth knowledge in a very limited time. However, his valuable comments inspired me very much throughout the research. Last but not least, I owe many thanks to my mentor Birten Çelik who taught me to make a systematic, and careful study together with helping me to shape my future at Sabancı University. I would also like to thank my friend Muamer Fazlic who carefully proofread this thesis, made it more readable, and helped me tirelessly whenever I asked. I also offer my thanks to Sumru Küçüka of FASS Dean’s Office and the staff of Sabancı University Information Center particularly Bahadır Barut. A very special thanks go to Hüseyin Edebalı ( Dede ) because of his endless help and passion for his previous job as being a former journalist. I will not forget our journey in Cağaloğlu neighborhood, particularly in Şeref Sokak. Besides, I have to thank a very special person and an Istanbul gentleman Talha Ebüzziya who paid attention to my study. I also owe appreciation to Erol Atmaca, vi Neslihan Aracı, and Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu for their help. Besides, as I maintained my education through scholarship due to economic problems, I have indebted to TÜBİTAK that supported me financially during my study. I am deeply thankful to my dear friends with whom I share the same life in the Middle East Technical University, Özün Candemir who also helped me with her knowledge and Yeşim Yıldız who is always by my side. Furthermore, I have to express many thanks to my friend Hatice Acar for her help. Last but not least, I need to express my gratitude to my dear friends Ayşe Beyza Gürlü, Bihter Bayraktar, Erkin Bulut, Mehmet Öz, and Mert Şen. I will always miss their companionship and our inspirational talks on several subjects mostly on history. Finally, my deepest thanks are to my beloved family. They gave me motivation, provided me the opportunity to go to the university and they helped me to be the first person who had higher education in our family. My mother Ayşe Esen will always be my inspiration since we shared the same desk in my primary school, while she tried to learn the alphabet. I owe a great thank to my source of proud, my father Mehmet Esen, who worked day and night for our family unconditionally. I am grateful to my big sister and brother-in-law Yasemin and Hakan Uysal and my little sources of joy Nil and Nisa for their support during my journey. Finally, I am dedicating this study to my beloved grandfather Satı Esen whom I lost during the final year of this thesis without seeing him. I will always remember him with his support and love for me. Thank you to all... vii In memory of my grandfather whom I will always remember... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xii 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Something is not Right: Why They did not Erase? ............................................ 1 1.2 Attempt to Count Invisible in Columns: How? .................................................. 3 1.3 Where is Matba’a-i Ebüzziya ? ........................................................................... 8 1.4 Notes on Primary Source: The Tasvîr-i Efkâr Newspaper ............................... 10 1.5 The Censorship in the Ottoman Studies ........................................................... 13 1.6 Thesis Outline .................................................................................................. 22 2. CENSORSHIP MECHANISM IN ISTANBUL DURING THE PERIOD OF ARMISTICE ................................................................................................................... 24 2.1 The Beginning: Censorship of the Ottoman Government ................................ 24 2.2 Beyne’l-Mü’telifin Sansürü or the Interallied Censorship ............................... 33 2.3 Conclusion of the Chapter ...............................................................................