Press and broadcasting interventions during the Abdulhamid II Period, the revolution guide book of Kaplanzade Ahmed Saib Bey

With the widespread use of the printing press in the Ottoman Empire, there was a serious increase in the number of publications. The state administration felt the need to take precautions, worrying that the presence of malevolent and negative publications would cause changes in the beliefs and thoughts of the people. As a result, the censorship mechanism emerged in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Abdülhamid II period refers to the period when the publications were the most in the Ottoman Empire, the most censorship also stands out in this period. Although there were censorship practices in the Ottoman Empire before the reign of Abdulhamid II, the high number of censorships applied under the conditions of Abdulhamid II's period enabled the censorship process to be identified with Abdulhamid II. The 1888 Regulations and the 1894 Regulations used during the period formed the legal basis for censorship. Considering the reasons for the banning of the publications, reasons such as having non-moral content, being considered politically harmful and unlicensed are striking. It is not specified that why for what reason the justification for the publications considered politically harmful and what kind of content they have. Serving the proclamation of the Constitutional Monarchy with his pen, Ahmed Saib Bey is a writer who has close ties with the Committee of Union and Progress. Originally a Russian citizen, Ahmed Saib Bey took refuge in the Ottoman Empire. Based on his military rank in the Russian armies, he was the aide of Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Pasha in Egypt. The book Rehnüma-yı İnkılap, which he wrote while he was in Egypt, was accepted as a harmful publication and its publication was prohibited. The reason why Rehnüma-yı İnkılap was accepted as politically banned was influenced by the advocacy of the idea of constitutionalism, its use of words that were banned in many words, and the use of expressions degrading the sultan and statesmen.