The reflection of the 1923 elections on the Akşam and Tanin newspapers: The case of İstanbul

While the National Struggle was under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the First Grand National Assembly of Turkey was opened on April 23, 1920. While the National Struggle was going on the unity that existed in the First Grand National Assembly of Turkey left its place to differences of opinion and this situation affected the Lausanne Peace Conference. Thereupon, Mustafa Kemal Pasha stated that it would be more appropriate to take an election decision, and the Assembly took the election decision on April 1, 1923. In the elections held in 1923, the people of Istanbul, which was under the occupation of the Allied Powers, supported the I. Group, led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, including non-Muslims. I. Group achieved a great victory in the Istanbul elections and won 15 deputies. In this period, there are various opinions about the election system and its results in the Istanbul press. On the one hand, it was said that the freedom of the opposition was restricted in the elections and therefore they were unsuccessful, on the other hand, the reason for the failure of the opposition was interpreted as the disintegration of the group and the lack of unity of opinion. These discussions and the election process were reflected in the Tanin Newspapers, which were dominated by the ideas of Akşam and İttihat ve Terakki, which gave open support to the I. Group. Akşam Newspaper published articles supporting the I. Group and emphasized the importance of the elections. Tanin Newspaper, on the other hand, published articles on the views of the İttihat ve Terakki and in a way assumed the task of communicating between the I. Group and the İttihatçılar. These discussions and the selection process were handled with the study and an evaluation was made between the newspapers with two opposing views.