Basiret

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Basiret
TypeDaily newspaper
Founder(s)Ali Efendi
Editor-in-chiefAli Efendi
Founded1869
Political alignment
  • Pan-Islamist
  • Pan-Turkism
LanguageOttoman Turkish
Ceased publication1879
HeadquartersConstantinople
CountryOttoman Empire

Basiret (Ottoman Turkish: Insightfulness) was an Ottoman daily newspaper which was published in Constantinople in the period 1869–1879. It was one of the most read newspapers of that period and had a pan-Islamist approach.[1]

History and profile

Basiret was established by Ali Efendi, a journalist, in 1869,[2] and the first issue appeared on 23 January 1870.[3] He was also the publisher of the paper and began to be known as Basiretçi Ali Efendi due to the popularity of the paper.[3] He was financed by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in getting printing machines to launch the paper.[4][5]

Basiret sold 40,000 copies in the first year.[2] Then it enjoyed both high levels of circulation and of influence among the Turks living in the Empire.[6] The readers of the paper were mostly conservative Muslims.[3] Major contributors included Ali Suavi, Namık Kemal and Ahmet Mithat.[6] Basiret covered critical articles about the bureaucratic structure of the Ottoman Empire.[3]

Basiret had links to the Young Ottomans movement.[7] During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871 the paper supported the Germans.[5][8] It became a platform for the pan-Islamist and pan-Turkist figures leaving its objective approach at the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877.[2]

References

  1. ISBN 9780415549790. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 18 April 2021.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ M. Kayahan Özgül. "Periyodiklerin İstanbul Kültürüne Etkileri" (in Turkish). İstanbul Tarihi. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b Mustafa Gencer (2014). "The Congress of Berlin (1878) in Context of the Ottoman-German Relations" (PDF). Tarihin Peşinde. 12: 298. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2020.
  6. ^
    S2CID 144548203
    .
  7. .
  8. .