Propaganda in the Young Turks publications (1895-1902)

The most significant political opposition group against rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II, who acceded on August 31, 1876, was the Young Turks. The Young Turks insisted that the formula that would prevent the fall of the Ottoman Empire was the constitutional rule and they regarded Abdulhamid II as the greatest obstacle against this formula. Accordingly, they engaged in an active opposition movement to put an end to his rule. The Young Turks were united under the name of the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress. This study examines the Young Turks' propaganda activities, the image formation efforts and their calls for the revolution in the newspapers which they published between the years 1895-1902, in the epistles and declarations they wrote. In the Young Turks' publications, image formation and the calls for revolution are also observed intensively depending on the type of propaganda discourses. They also try to achieve their aim through the calls for revolution which is complementary to propaganda and image activities. Therefore, the scope of the study was not limited to propaganda, and the topics of image and revolution were also included in the study accordingly. The main frame of the study will be the use of internal and external political events, social and economic developments as propaganda instruments in the press and publication activities by the Young Turks. The calls for creating a revolution against the rule of Abdulhamid II by inclining the society to mass movement through publication will also be evaluated. The press and publication activities of the Young Turks between 1895 and 1902 will be discussed in the axis of propaganda and revolution and within the context of Abdulhamid II-Young Turks relations, or, in other words, the power-opposition relations. Established within the framework of these boundaries, this study will attempt to contribute to a better understanding of the scope and content of the Young Turks opposition against the rule of Abdulhamid II. In addition, the period of the Abdulhamid II will be discussed as a whole in the axis of this particular time frame. Thus, a new dimension will be attached to the relationship between Abdulhamid II and the Young Turks. Keywords: Abdulhamid II, Young Turks, Opposition, Propaganda, Image