The legitimacy of political power in the new Ottoman thought: The case of Hürriyet Newspaper

Ottoman political thought has been studied through philosophy, history, fiqh, kalam, Sufism, and adab literature. However, Ottoman political thought can be investigated beyond these genres. Contrary to existing literature, this thesis examines Ottoman political thought through articles in the New Ottomans' Hürriyet newspaper that were published in the post-Tanzimat period, a period of changes, transformations, and renewal for the Ottoman Empire. The literature on the New Ottomans is mainly dominated by biographical, linguistic, literary, and historical studies. However, in this thesis, I endeavor to unearth the political dimensions of their thought by focusing on the legitimacy of political power. Legitimacy, as one of the key concepts of political theory, explains the raison d'être of politics. Therefore, focusing on legitimacy would be useful both to grasp the New Ottomans' political ideas and to trace the development of Ottoman political thought in the post-Tanzimat era. Because legitimation of power includes normative and factual aspects, legitimacy cannot be understood from a one-dimensional perspective. For this reason, in examining the legitimacy of power in their thought, I adopt a multidimensional approach that considers the perspectives of political science, political philosophy, and political theory. Thus I try to explore how the New Ottomans reinterpreted modern political thought according to Islamic and Ottoman traditions. Also, I think, studying the New Ottomans, who formed the first modern Ottoman Muslim intellectual movement that responded to the challenges of the West, makes this investigation more valuable. Moreover, digging out the undiscovered political ideas in newspaper articles would widen the scope of the studies on Ottoman political thought.