Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Eastern European History Review, sa.5, ss.233-246, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
It is a well-known fact that the advent of the printing press, and therefore the
periodic and non-periodical publishing in the Ottoman society took place relatively
late compared to its European counterparts. It was thought that this delay meant
that the Ottomans were incapable of using the media tools of the period, either
actively or passively. In this context, it was assumed that the Ottomans followed
not the European press and showed no tendency to use papers as a source of
“intelligence” until 1884, when Sultan Abdulhamid II established the Directorate of
Foreign Affairs. Contrary to this common belief, despite the few and trivial efforts
beforehand, it is seen that Sultan Abdulhamid I made a consistent and
careful effort to follow the European press during his reign. In this article, the
sultan’s pursuit of the European press, how the papers were procured, what kind
of issues were underlined in the extracts translated and how the relevant news
and comments were evaluated will be emphasized, and how this effort turned into
almost a standard practice following his reign will be shown.