A Methodological Opposition to the Proclamation of the Republic: The İstikbal Newspaper Published in Trabzon
Nurettin ÇakıcıThe press is undeniably one of the most effective tools in forming and directing public opinion. In this context, İstikbal Newspaper had demonstrated this since its first publication in 1918 with the role it played in rallying the people of the region to the side of the struggle by revealing the reasons and aims of the National Struggle. The newspaper, which was published under the leadership of Faik Ahmet Bey, discussed the developments before and after the proclamation of the republic. During the preparations for proclaiming the republic, the newspaper followed a publication policy in favor of this. The dominant opinion in İstikbal Newspaper was that the proclamation had been realized without consulting the public and in a hurry. This situation was harshly criticized by the newspaper. İstikbal Newspaper frequently emphasized the sovereignty of the nation and supremacy of the parliament and also criticized the granting of broad powers to any person or authority other than the parliament. Displaying an oppositional attitude toward the method followed during the proclamation of the republic, the newspaper criticized both the government and the People’s Party.
Cumhuriyetin İlanına Metodolojik Bir Muhalefet: Trabzon’da Çıkan İstikbal Gazetesi
Nurettin ÇakıcıKamuoyu oluşturulması ve kamuoyunun yönlendirilmesinde en etkili araçlardan birinin basın olduğu yadsınamaz bir gerçektir. Bu bağlamda bakıldığında yayımlanmaya başlandığı 1918 yılından itibaren İstikbal Gazetesi, Millî Mücadele’nin gerekçelerini ve amaçlarını ortaya koyarak, bölge halkının mücadelenin safında toplanmasında oynadığı rol ile bunu göstermiştir. Faik Ahmet Bey’in öncülüğünde çıkarılan gazetede, cumhuriyetin ilanı süreci öncesi ve sonrasıyla ele alınmıştır. Gazetede cumhuriyetin ilanına yönelik hazırlıkların yapıldığı sıralarda cumhuriyetin ilan edilmesinden yana bir yayım politikası takip edilmiştir. İstikbal Gazetesi’nde ilanın halka danışılmadan ve aceleye getirilerek gerçekleştirildiği hâkim görüş olarak öne çıkmıştır. Bu duruma gazete tarafından oldukça sert eleştiriler yöneltilmiştir. Millet hâkimiyeti ve meclis üstünlüğüne sıklıkla vurgu yapılan İstikbal Gazetesi’nde, meclis dışında herhangi bir kişi ya da makama geniş salahiyet verilmesi de tenkit edilmiştir. Cumhuriyetin ilanı sürecinde takip edilen yönteme muhalif bir tavır sergileyen gazetede gerek hükümete gerekse Halk Fırkası’na sert eleştiriler yöneltildiği görülmektedir.
Although the proclamation of the republic was left until after the peace treaty, a number of radical changes were known to have been made during the National Struggle that formed the basis of the Republican regime. The first important step that was taken toward these changes and innovation movements can be expressed as the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) in April 1920. While the establishment of the TGNA underlined the will of the nation, it also allowed the National Struggle movement to gain legitimacy. Secondly, the emphasis on the sovereignty of the nation in Article 1 of the Constitution adopted on January 20, 1921 marked an important step that had been taken in the process leading to the proclamation of the republic. In addition to these, the abolition of the sultanate on November 1, 1922 was a declaration that no authority or person could be effective other than the parliament and that the appropriate time to name the regime that was now being de facto implemented was believed to have come.
The discussions on determining the republican regime as the form of government were brought to the agenda by both national and local press organs. First published on December 10, 1918, İstikbal Newspaper was one of these organs supporting the National Struggle movement. The newspaper dealt with the pre- and post-proclamation of the republic with the news articles it published and later made serious criticisms against the method that had been followed during the proclamation. Although the newspaper had accepted the regime that existed before the proclamation to already be a republic and included articles praising the republican regime, it criticized how the proclamation had been imposed by taking advantage of the cabinet crisis.
From the beginning of the preparations for the amendments to the 1921 Constitution to the proclamation of the republic, İstikbal Newspaper closely followed the developments within this scope and conveyed these goings on to readers with an oppositional approach, though this oppositional attitude was not directed toward the republican regime. With the adoption of the new regime, the powers of parliament had been reduced compared to the parliamentary governmental system, and the prime ministerial and especially presidential offices had been given broad powers. The newspaper interpreted this situation as a departure from the principles of sovereignty and nationalism and a shift away from the axis of democracy. In this context, the newspaper increased its dosage of criticism and emphasized how granting wide powers to a person or office other than the parliament could lead to the transformation of the political system into a dictatorship in the future. The articles published in the newspaper emphasized that the powers of the parliament should not be given to any one person or authority.
Although İstikbal Newspaper stated that the proclamation of the republic had been carried out in a hurry as a fait accompli, the news articles it published also accepted the inevitability of the republican regime being established after the sultanate was abolished. This situation may be viewed as a contradiction. However, the main issue the newspaper addressed was how the change had been made in a short period of time, not by consulting the nation but with the encouragement and guidance of a certain cadre of people. In addition, the oppositional attitude of the press toward the proclamation of the republic and the regulations of 1923 shows the press at that time to have had broad freedoms. Indeed, the articles İstikbal Newspaper published were seen to have an extremely high level of criticism against the government and the Halk Fırkası [People’s Party]. İstikbal Newspaper displayed an oppositional attitude toward the methods followed while proclaiming the republic and expressed its thoughts on the supremacy of the parliament and the sovereignty of the nation with great courage and open-heartedness, which played an important role in maintaining awareness in public consciousness.
