''Marko Paşa'' (literally ''Marco Pasha'') was a weekly political satire magazine which was in circulation between 1946 and 1950. The magazine was based in

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, and subtitled, ''Political Satire Periodical for the People''. It is one of the earliest publications in the country which employed cartoons for

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

History and profile

''Marko Paşa'' was established in 1946 by leading Turkish journalists and authors, namely

Aziz Nesin Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915 – 6 July 1995) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, he had to adopt one after the Surname Law of 1 ...

Sabahattin Ali Sabahattin Ali (25 February 1907 – 2 April 1948) was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Early life He was born in 1907 in Eğridere township (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria) of the Sanjak of Gümülcine (no ...

and

Rıfat Ilgaz Rıfat Ilgaz (7 May 1911 – 7 July 1993) was a Turkish teacher, writer and poet. Biography He was born in Cide, in the Kastamonu Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey). Ilgaz was one of Turkey’s best-known and most prolific poets ...

. Of them Sabahattin Ali was also the owner of ''Marko Paşa'' which was financed by the members of the Socialist Party. The founding editor-in-chief of the weekly was Sabahattin Ali who held the post until 1948. The first issue appeared on 25 November 1946, and the magazine was consisted of four pages with 26x41cm size. The magazine was published on a weekly basis and had a socialist political stance featuring political satire. It was one of the opposition media outlets to the ruling party,

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

. The magazine was also one of the critics of the United States. Several issues of the magazine was banned, and the editors were often sued because of their drawings and writings. In order to reflect this pressure the cover of the magazine occasionally contained statements like "published when not censored" and "published when writers not in custody". All such tensions between the editors of the magazine and single party government are one of the reasons for the mysterious murder of Sabahattin Ali in 1948. ''Marko Paşas first issue sold just 6,000 copies. The circulation raised to 70,000 copies by the sixth issue. ''Marko Paşa'' could survive until 1950 when it was closed down by the court orders, and Aziz Nesin was imprisoned due to his writings in the magazine which criticized the American aid to Turkey.

Legacy

The Chicago Ottoman Microfilms Project initiated by the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1985 archived the issues of ''Marko Paşa''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marko Pasa 1946 establishments in Turkey 1950 disestablishments in Turkey Banned magazines Censorship in Turkey Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Magazines established in 1946 Magazines disestablished in 1950 Magazines published in Istanbul Satirical magazines published in Turkey Socialist magazines Turkish-language magazines Turkish political satire Weekly magazines published in Turkey