Avnullah al-Kâzımî and his articles in the Muruvvet Newspaper
Chapter from the book:
Tansü,
Y.
E.
&
Kara,
F.
(eds.)
2023.
Selected Articles in the Field of History -V.
Synopsis
Avnullah al-Kâzimî is known in Turkish political life for his identity as the founder and president of the Fedakaran-ı Millet Cemiyeti, the Governor of Kirkuk and the journalist. Avnullah el-Kazımî's life between 1866 and 1916 was quite turbulent. After completing his education in Aleppo, where his father was exiled to, he came to Istanbul. Avnullah Bey worked for forty-seven days as the responsible editor-in-chief of the Mürüvvet newspaper published by Marufizade Mehmed Ziyaeddin Bey in Istanbul. He fled abroad after the closure of Muruvvet newspaper. Avnullah Bey came under the protection of Müşir Fuad Pasha in Istanbul. Musir Fuad Pasha's II. Avnullah Bey was also tried in the conspiracy to dethrone Abdulhamid II. As a result of this trial, Avnullah Bey, who was sentenced to life imprisonment as a shovel of punishment, served time in Sivas and Sinop prisons. Avnullah al-Kazimi returned to Istanbul thanks to the general amnesty declared in the Constitutional Monarchy and made a harsh opposition against the Committee of Union and Progress. He served as Governor of Kirkuk between 1909 and 1914.
Muruvvet newspaper was a weekly and daily newspaper published by Marufizade Mehmed Ziyaeddin Bey between 1887 and 1890. Avnullah el-Kâzımî worked as the responsible editor-in-chief of the Mürüvvet newspaper between 13 January 1890 and 4 March 1890. During this duty, which lasted fifty-two days, Avnullah al-Kazimî published his articles about European and world politics under the title "Policy Summary". These comments of Avnullah Bey in the newspaper were his evaluations from newspapers and telegrams coming from Europe. The main idea of Avnullah Bey's writings was the concept of "peace and public safety". According to him, peace and tranquility in Europe would be ensured by the great powers of Europe, defined as the "great powers".
Muruvvet newspaper was closed after its 507th issue left the columns containing the section that the censorship committee wanted to be removed blank. Avnullah al-Kazimi, as the responsible editor-in-chief, fled abroad with the fear of being punished for disobeying the orders of the censorship committee and the law. It was argued that the reason why Avnullah al-Kazimi fled abroad was his articles opposing the administration in the Mürüvvet newspaper. This study shows that this is not true. Avnullah al-Kazimi's writings are about political events in Europe and the world and there was no criticism of the Ottoman administration.