''Büyük Mecmua'' (, 'Great periodical') was a magazine that was briefly published in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

during the Independence War between 1919 and 1920. It is one of the many publications that were launched and edited by the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

journalist couple Sabiha and

Zekeriya Sertel Zekeriya Sertel, also known as Mehmet Zekeriya Sertel, (1890–1980) was a Turkish journalist. He is the first director of state press department and founder and editor of various periodicals. From 1950 to 1980 Sertel lived in exile. Early life ...

History and profile

The first issue of ''Büyük Mecmua'' was headquartered in Cağaloğlu, İstanbul, and appeared on 6 March 1919. Sabiha and

were among the founders of the magazine, which aimed to raise the awareness among people about the significance of unity and support for the Independence War. The magazine adopted a

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

and

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

approach. The license holder for the first seven issues were Zekeriya Sertel. He was imprisoned for his articles published in ''Büyük Mecmua'' that criticised the authorities for their inability to stop invasion of the

by the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. Following Zekeriya Sertel's imprisonment the license holder became his wife, Sabiha Sertel. The publisher was Diken Publishing Company. The magazine's first five issues were published weekly on Thursdays, but it then became a biweekly publication. The magazine covered many topics from political articles and women-related issues to arts, literary work and poems. It also featured caricatures and presented some polls concerning the political situation of the country such as the implementation of

Wilsonian Wilsonianism, or Wilsonian idealism, is a certain type of foreign policy advice. The term comes from the ideas and proposals of United States President Woodrow Wilson. He issued his famous Fourteen Points in January 1918 as a basis for ending Wor ...

principles and the future of the

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

. The contributors of ''Büyük Mecmua'' in addition to Sabiha and Zekeriya Sertel included many significant authors:

Halide Edib Adıvar Halide Edip Adıvar ( , sometimes spelled Halidé Edib in English; 11 June 1884 – 9 January 1964) was a Turkish people, Turkish novelist, teacher, and a nationalist and Feminism, feminist intellectual. She was best known for her novels criticiz ...

Falih Rıfkı Atay Falih Rıfkı Atay (1894 – 20 March 1971) was a Turkish journalist, writer and politician between 1923 and 1950. Biography Falih Rıfkı was the son of Halil Hilmi Efendi, an imam. He was educated in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. Falih began hi ...

Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel (18 May 1898 – 8 November 1973) was a leading Turkish people, Turkish poet, author and later politician. He is one of the Five Syllabists. Together with Behçet Kemal Çağlar, he wrote the lyrics of the Tenth Anniver ...

, Mehmed Fuad Köprülü, Ahmet Rasim and

Ömer Seyfettin Ömer Seyfettin (11 March 1884, Gönen – 6 March 1920, Istanbul), was a Turkish writer from the late 19th to early 20th century, considered to be one of the greatest modern Turkish authors. His work is much praised for simplifying the Turkish ...

. Sabiha Sertel's early writings on

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

were published in ''Büyük Mecmua''. After publishing a total of 17 issues, ''Büyük Mecmua'' folded in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buyuk Mecmua 1919 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1920 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Biweekly magazines published in Turkey Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Magazines established in 1919 Magazines disestablished in 1920 Defunct magazines published in Istanbul Defunct Turkish-language magazines Weekly magazines published in Turkey