''Serbestî'' (

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

for "Liberty") was an Ottoman newspaper. It was founded in 1908 by Mevlanzade Rifat Bey, who in 1924 would become one of the 150 ''personae non gratae'' of the newly established

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, because the paper and its founder had an oppositional and hostile stance to the

independence movement Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a ...

led by

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

. The paper opposed the progressive

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

(CUP), which was coming into power at the time of its founding. The editor-in-chief of ''Serbestî'', Hasan Fehmi Bey, was murdered on 6 April 1909 by unknown assailants. Following this incident Mevlanzade Rifat Bey left Istanbul and settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he published ''Serbestî'' for a short period. Next he went to Egypt and published the paper there until February 1910 when it was banned. Following his return to the Ottoman Empire he resumed the publication of ''Serbestî'' in İstanbul on 12 July 1912. However, it was banned by the Ottoman authorities in September 1912. The paper was restarted later and published until 1923 with some interruptions.

References

1908 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Newspapers established in 1908 Defunct newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire Newspapers published in Istanbul Defunct Turkish-language newspapers Publications disestablished in 1923 Banned newspapers {{Turkey-newspaper-stub