''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' (

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. ...

: ''Interpreter of Events'') was an Ottoman newspaper which existed between 1860 and 1866 in Istanbul. It is the first privately owned publication in the Empire and is known for its founder,

Agah Efendi Çapanzade or Çapanoğlu Agah Efendi (March 31, 1832 – January 2, 1886) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish Civil service, civil servant, writer and newspaper editor who, along with his colleague İbrahim Şinasi, published ...

. It is also the first newspaper started and published by a Turk in the country.

History and profile

''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' was established by Agah Efendi in 1860, and its first issue appeared on 22 October that year. Ibrahim Şinasi helped him to launch the paper. He also served as its editor-in-chief and argued in the first editorial that featuring only news was not enough. Şinasi left the paper in 1862 to start his own paper called ''

Tasvîr-i Efkâr ''Tasvîr-i Efkâr'' (, ) was a long term Ottoman Turkish newspaper which existed between 1862 and 1925 with some interruptions. The paper was one of the early privately-owned publications in the Ottoman Empire. It is known for its founder İbrah ...

''. ''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' came out three days per week, but later it appeared five times per week. From the 740th issue the paper published daily except for Fridays. In addition to national news, it featured news translated from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', '' La Patrie'', and ''

Levant Herald ''Levant Herald'' was a bilingual newspaper which existed in the period 1856–1914 in Constantinople. It was founded by British subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The paper had English and French language editions. Published more than fifty years i ...

''. It covered political, educational and economic news and writings which were written by

Ahmed Vefik Pasha Ahmed Vefik Pasha () (3 July 1823 2 April 1891) was an Ottoman statesman, diplomat, scholar, playwright, and translator during the Tanzimat and First Constitutional Era periods. He was commissioned with top-rank governmental duties, including pr ...

, Sarı Tevfik Bey, Mehmed Şerif Bey, Refik Bey and Hasan Subhi Efendi. The paper also featured literary work becoming the first Ottoman periodical in this regard. From its second issue Şinasi's play entitled ''Şair Evlenmesi'' (Ottoman Turkish: ''Poet’s Marriage'') which was the first play written in Turkish was serialized in the paper. It also featured Şinasi's poems and French poems translated by him. The first press conflict in the Ottoman Empire occurred between ''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' and ''

Ceride-i Havadis Ceride-i Havadis (Journal of News) was the first semi-official newspaper in the Ottoman Empire, and was published from 1840 to 1877. History ''Ceride-i Havadis'' was published by William Nosworthy Churchill, an Englishman who moved to Turkey aged ...

''. ''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' enjoyed higher levels of circulation. However, it was temporarily banned several times. The first ban was immediately after its start due to its critical approach towards the government. It was again banned in May 1861 for two weeks because of its criticisms over the educational system in the Ottoman Empire. The last edition of ''Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' appeared on 11 March 1866, and it produced 792 issues during its lifetime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tercuman Ahval 1860 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1866 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Defunct newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire Newspapers published in Istanbul Newspapers established in 1860 Publications disestablished in 1866 Turkish-language newspapers Banned newspapers Censorship in Turkey