Ottoman modernization and Jews in the case of Selanik and İttihad newspapers

Especially during XVIIIth and XIXth centuries, the Ottoman Jews which have become one of the largest non-muslim societies of the Empire have experienced a modernization process within the scope of the conditions under which they have lived in that period. It is possible to group such conditions under two titles: general and special ones, which have belonged to the Ottoman Jews. The first one has included the Rescript of Gülhane and the Edict of Reform, which have borne great importance in terms of reflections of modernization in Ottoman on the Ottoman Law and the practical life, and the reorganization of non-muslim societies which has been one of the most important results concerning the non-muslim societies of the Empire. The second one has included the historical, political, economical and social conditions which have belonged to the Ottoman Jews, which have contained chainges in such conditions, "haskala" as a modern movement of thought, modern schools, chief rabbinate regulatitons and zionism. This study tries to undertand the modernization process experienced by the Ottoman Jews under such conditions, by means of two Ottoman newspapers, out of five, linked with the Ottoman Jews, whose archives have been accessed; It has traced the political, administrative, economical, social and cultural signs in practice of the modernization fact. As a result, it is seen that the Ottoman Jews, at least some of them identify and interpret their modernization and experienced changes and transformations with ottomanism.