Ideological indoctrination and propaganda in the anti-Kemalist press of the early 1930s

In the article, that author presents a detailed analysis of the propaganda tactics employed by both Kemalist and anti-Kemalist forces during the early 1930s. It draws upon a diverse array of source material, including the Turkish newspapers, such as “Nation” (Ulus), “Time” (Vakit), “Republic” (Cumhuriyet), and the opposition daily “Free Republic” (Serbes Cumhuriyet), which ran from October 1930 to January 1931. The latter was established as the official print media of the Free Republican Party (FRP), which was headed by a close associate of the President, Ali Fethi (Okyar). The daily became the mouthpiece of moderate liberal movement, while concurrently turning into a weapon of ideological confrontation between the FRP and the incumbent Kemalist Republican People’s Party (RPP). The study of the opposition newspaper represents a novel approach within the Russian academic literature, as there have been no previous attempts to examine the perspective of those opposed to the Kemalists, or to analyse the representation of the main ideas of the FRP in the press. The research focuses on the analysis of anti-Kemalist propaganda in the “Free Republic” newspaper. The plethora of propaganda clichés present on its pages renders “Free Republic” a valuable source for studying the ideological shift that occurred during the early 1930s. It demonstrates the efforts to devise an alternative programme for the development of the Turkish Republic and enables the reconstruction of the ideological and political context of the Kemalist unsuccessful endeavour to establish a controllable opposition in 1930. Although it had the potential to gain a foothold in the market, the “Free Republic” newspaper ultimately succumbed to the forces of pro-government press propaganda. Despite its ambitious and courageous editorial stance, the opposition daily could not withstand the formidable and sophisticated propaganda apparatus of the Kemalists.