This article provides a historical overview of the development of the Turkish press since its beginning during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the Ottoman Empire and through various critical periods of the Turkish Republic. It explores, first, how the press and the printing houses developed during the last stages of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, it reveals the abuses of the press, assassinations of many Turkish journalists and other important figures, and appearance of newspapers during times of critical transformations, like those of Tanzimat, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and the Young Turks. Second, it offers a detailed account and analysis of the development and censorship of the Turkish press during the beginning of the independence of the Turkish Republic, and later through the military coups, political divides, social violence, and socioeconomic hardships. Third and last, this article sheds light on the recent situation of the Turkish press and media.

Keywords: Turkish press, Ottoman press, Abdul Hamid II, press history, Turkish newspapers.