''Forum'' was a biweekly political and cultural magazine which was published in Ankara, Turkey, between 1954 and 1970. The magazine is known for its opposition to the Democrat Party (DP) and its leading contributors. Its title was a reflection of its intend to be a publication for open debate about politics and culture.

History and profile

''Forum'' was started in 1954, and its first issue appeared on 1 April that year. In the inaugural issue the magazine described its goal as "to help enlighten the people by confronting different opinions." Its founders were Aydın Yalçın ve Nilüfer Yalçın. The latter was also the first editor-in-chief and owner of the magazine which came out biweekly. The magazine was later owned by different individuals, including Metin And, Osman Okyar, Fikret Ekinci ve Asime Korkmazgil. The members of its editorial board were mostly intellectuals and academics. It was headquartered in Ankara. The magazine had a 24-page format, but some issues had 32 pages. ''Forum'' was one of the supporters of the Liberty Party which was established by the former members of the DP in 1955. Over time the magazine's opposition to the ruling DP increased, and it was closed down by the DP government on 15 April 1960. ''Forum'' resumed its publication only after the military coup of 27 May 1960. In the first issue after the ban dated 1 June the magazine praised the military coup which ended the DP's rule and described it as the most gentleman coup d'état. In the post-coup period ''Forum'' supported the formation of a social-democratic coalition consisting of industrialists, civil servants, workers, and poor peasants against the populist coalition of peasants and merchants which had been established during the DP rule. The magazine also supported the view that the new constitution should normalize the political arena in Turkey which had been destabilized by the DP government. ''Forum'' had a liberal stance in the 1950s and advocated Western-type, Keynesian liberal democracy as well as liberal principles such as freedom of thought and the free press. It also supported a liberal economic approach, including interventionist and non-interventionist approaches to the national market. It adopted a socialist political stance in the late 1960s. In addition to articles by Turkish contributors, ''Forum'' contained Turkish translations of the articles on political and economic topics from foreign newspapers and journals, including '' The Economist'', ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' and '' The Times''. These articles were featured in a section entitled "Ne Diyorlar?" ( tr, What Are They Saying?). ''Forum'' also featured articles on arts and on rural settlements. Throughout its run ''Forum'' published two special issues. One of them was entitled "Injustice to Teachers" dated 15 December 1967, and the other one was entitled "The Eastern Region" dated 15 January 1968. ''Forum'' folded on 15 October 1969. It was restarted in February 1970, but permanently ceased publication on 28 April 1970 after producing a total of 379 issues.

Contributors

Most of the ''Forum'' contributors were political scientists and legal academics from

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

and

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

, including Bahri Savcı, Osman Okyar, Bedii Feyzioğlu, Turhan Feyzioğlu,

Turan Güneş Turan Güneş (1922–1982) was a Turkish academic and politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in the 1970s. He started his political career in the Democrat Party, but soon he joined the Republican Peo ...

, and Kemal Salih. In addition, various leading academics and political figures from different orientations published articles in the magazine: Sadun Aren, Aziz Nesin, Doğan Avcıoğlu,

Muammer Aksoy Muammer Aksoy (1917 – January 31, 1990) was a Turkish academic of law, politician, columnist and intellectual. He was assassinated. Biography Aksoy was born 1917 in İbradı, Antalya Province Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the ...

, İlhan Arsel, Şerif Mardin,

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in ...

, Cevat Çapan, Orhan Asena,

Cahit Talas Cahit Talas (1917 – 14 October 2006) was a Turkish academic who was the dean of Ankara University's Faculty of Political Science for two terms. He served as the minister of labor between 1960 and 1961. He is known for being the pioneer of soci ...

, Mümtaz Soysal, Yakup Kepenek,

Münci Kapani Münci Kapani (1921–1993) was a Turkish academic, politician and writer. He is known for his studies on public law and political activities in the mid-1950s. Early life and education He was born Mehmet Münci in İzmir on 16 May 1921. He gradu ...

, Coşkun Kırca ve Fahir Armaoğlu. Of them Şerif Mardin, Bülent Ecevit, Turhan Feyzioğlu and Attilâ İlhan also shaped the ideological framework of ''Forum''. In the 1960s the magazine featured articles by Ahmet N. Yücekök,

İsmail Beşikçi İsmail Beşikçi (born 1939 in İskilip, Turkey) is a Turkish sociologist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer. He is a PEN Honorary Member. He has served 17 years in prison on propaganda charges stemming from his writings about the Kurdish popu ...

, Behice Boran, Mehmet Ali Aybar and Hüseyin Korkmazgil.

Bilge Karasu Bilge Karasu (9 January 1930 – 13 July 1995), was a Turkish short story writer and novelist. Biography Bilge Karasu was born in 1930, in Istanbul. Bilge Karasu's parents, who later converted to Islam, were of Jewish origin, although he does ...

was a regular contributor of ''Forum'' between its start in 1954 to 1959. His articles were about art criticism. The other ''Forum'' contributors whose articles were on music, literature, theatre, and plastic arts included İlhan Mimaroğlu, Bedii Sevin, Turgut Uyar, Güner Sümer, Hüseyin Cöntürk, Metin And, Gültekin Oransay, and Kaya Özsezgin.

Legacy

Issues of ''Forum'' were archived by TUSTAV.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forum 1954 establishments in Turkey 1970 disestablishments in Turkey Biweekly magazines published in Turkey Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Magazines established in 1954 Magazines disestablished in 1970 Magazines published in Ankara Defunct Turkish-language magazines Banned magazines Censorship in Turkey Defunct socialist magazines Liberalism in Turkey