ABİDİN DÂVER UNDER THE LIGHT OF HIS LABOUR IN TURKISH PRESS FOR ALMOST A HALF CENTURY
Murat YümlüAbidin Dâver had been active as a journalist for almost a half century. The starting point of this article is defined as the examination of Abidin Dâver’s literary life with respect to his written works inthe history of maritime and the naval history. Born in 1886, Abidin Dâver (d.1954) had been amongst the journalists, passionate with the sea, and dedicated his life to the ships and the naval history as well as the understanding of foreign cultures within the framework of travels abroad. His long literary life had reflected a high gusto. Known as the “civil or little admiral” along with some other titles referring to his high interests on the military affairs, Abidin Dâver had also been amongst the founders of the Galatasaray Sports Club. Aside from his works such as the Oppressed Prince Zizim (1909,) The Ship (1932), The Sea (1932), Turkish Maritime (1947), Barbaros Hayreddin Pacha (1954), he had also written a novel entitled as “The Novel of the Lieutenant”. The study had applied to the periodicals such as Her Hafta (Every Week), Hollywood Dünyası (Hollwood World), Av ve Deniz (Hunt and the Sea), Deniz Mecmuası (The Sea Journal), Deniz Nakliyatı T.A.O. Bülteni (The Sea Transport Bulletin), the publication of the Chamber of Turkish Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Gemi Mecmuası (the Ship Journal). and the daily Cumhuriyet (Republic) and Ikdam newspaper as well as the digitalized archives of Taha Toros and Salt Research.
YARIM ASRA ULAŞAN BASIN EMEĞİ IŞIĞINDA GAZETECİ ABİDİN DÂVER
Murat YümlüAbidin Dâver yarım asra yakın basın hayatında bulunmuştur. Bu makalenin temel çıkış noktası, denizcilik ve donanma tarihi başta gelmek üzere pek çok alanda yazan Abidin Dâver’in yazınsal hayatını incelemektir. 1886’da doğan Dâver deniz tutkunu gazeteciler arasında yer almış; yaşamını gemilere ve denizcilik tarihiyle birlikte yabancı kültürlerin anlaşılmasına adamıştır. Uzun yazınsal hayatı yüksek bir beğeniyi yansıtmıştır. Basında, askerî konulara ilgisi dolayısıyla diğer pek çok unvanla birlikte “sivil ya da küçük amiral” unvanlarıyla tanınan Abidin Dâver aynı zamanda Galatasaray Spor Kulübünün kurucuları arasında yer almıştır. Mazlum Şehzade Cem (1909), Gemi (1932), Deniz (1932), Türk Denizciliği (1947), Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa (1954) gibi eserleriyle birlikte Mülâzımın Romanı (1936) adını taşıyan bir de roman kaleme almıştır. Çalışmada dijital ortama aktarılan Taha Toros ve Salt Araştırma arşivleri başta olmak üzere, Her Hafta, Hollywood Dünyası, Av ve Deniz, Deniz Mecmuası, Deniz Nakliyatı TAO ve Gemi Mühendisleri Odası yayını Gemi Mecmuası, Cumhuriyet ve İkdam gazetesi gibi süreli yayınlardan yararlanılmıştır.
The article that aspired to focus on the literary gusto of a famous journalist of the period from the 1920’s to 1950’s in the newly rising, young Republic of Turkey, Abidin Daver had a special dedication to the profession. His dedication in a bunch of insightful categories such as the sports, history of maritime and the navy, rising cinema industry helped the proliferation of his profession along the lines of the interest to the new, modern world. All of his contributions to periodicals, newspapers, and scholarly books shows his high gusto which depended upon the application to the new sources and the new literature. As a witness to the constitutional period of the Ottoman Empire, one of the founders of the Galatasaray Sports Club (GSK) in the wake of the 20th century, Turkish National War of Independence, and the early years of young Republic of Turkey, Daver represented one of the key examples of contemporary journalism from 1920s to 1950s. When he died in 1954, his loss was commemorated in many newspapers, and he was mostly known as the “civil admiral”, probably a title that could be assumed by just a few names in the Turkish press circles at that time. Being confined to the limits of the freedom of press, Abidin Daver’s struggle to boost the quality of journalism in Turkey depended upon the promotion of new sources and new research interests. Although the quality of the newspapers and the periodicals had been a matter of discussion during those years, Daver’s vision was a contribution to the development of the Turkish press under the “breath” of the new Turkish Republic. He was elected as the deputy of Istanbul in 1939 to the parliament in the sixth term, and had been among the founding members of the Turkish Union of Press. A close look at the journalists of the early period of Republic of Turkey, 1920’s and 1930s, and in addition to these, the scrutiny at the 1940s and the early 1950s prove the significant contributions of several journalists. At that point, Daver became a part of the list, yet not as an exception. He was interested in the maritime issues in a historical perspective. This field emerged as an already un excavated area. During the tense course of events of WWII that shook the entire world, Turkey also had serious difficulties. Abidin Dâver, as a member of a critical group of journalists that involved Ahmet Emin Yalman, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and Zekeriya Sertel along with Ahmet Şükrü Esmer had been missioned to conduct a professional visit to both Europe and the USA in the midst of WWII. The turmoil of the Second World War consisted of many obstacles for both the administrations and the world of press. The newspapers had been under the threat of censorship due to the security issues and the controlling of the open intelligence. As one of the most experienced, senior columnists of those years, Abidin Daver was followed by several readers of Cumhuriyet during the 1940s. His column was entitled as Hem Nalına Hem Mıhına, known as a gift by the founder of Cumhuriyet newspaper, Yunus Nadi (Abalıoğlu) to him as a reference to the sensitivity to objectivity. Daver’s ethical view on the profession remained within these limits, and he ardently supported the idea of considering other dimensions of the historical issues. Thus, he was mostly known as a columnist of Cumhuriyet newspaper where his pen appeared with the vignette of a hammer holding hand for almost thirty years. Being a part of a newspaper family for almost three decades, Daver published several books during his long-term experiences of professional journalism. He wrote thousands of newspaper articles during the interwar period, and the difficult times of WWII. Aside from his works such as the Oppressed Prince Zizim (1909,) The Ship (1932), The Sea (1932), Turkish Maritime (1947), Barbaros Hayreddin Pacha (1954), he had also written a novel entitled as “The Novel of the Lieutenant”. The study had applied to the periodicals such as Her Hafta (Every Week), Hollywood Dünyası (Hollywood World), Av ve Deniz (The Hunt and the Sea), Deniz Mecmuası (The Sea Journal), Deniz Nakliyatı T.A.O. Bülteni (The Sea Transport Bulletin), the publication of the Chamber of Turkish Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Gemi Mecmuası (the Ship Journal). and the daily Cumhuriyet (Republic) newspaper.
