İbret Newspaper and Its Articles That Led to Its Closure in The History of Turkish Press (1872-1873)

Abstract

In this article, a brief information has been presented about the first press and publication activities in Ottoman Empire, and the publication of İbret newspaper and reasons for the penalties that it receives, has been discussed. The Ottoman press life started with the Takvim-i Vekāyi, which was issued in 1831, and continued with Cerîde-i Havâdis in 1840. With Tercüman-ı Ahvâl, which was published in 1860, journalism and the press came out of the state monopoly, and it became stronger with Tasvir-i Efkâr newspaper in 1862 and Muhbir newspaper published in 1867. When the criticisms of the government started to appear in the newspapers published by the Young Ottomans in the 1860s, the press was tried to be silenced with the Press Regulation in 1864 and the Âli Kararname in 1867. However, the press was never silenced, and these journalists continued their struggle abroad. With the return of the Young Ottomans to their homeland, the most powerful media organ of the Tanzimat, İbret, was published. İbret, who approached the events with his identity as an Fikir newspaper, was subjected to various punishments throughout his publication life due to his brave attitude. The İbret newspaper, which had an important place in Turkish press history with the master pen of Namık Kemal, was closed in 1873.