The Perception of the Republic of Turkey in the Croatian Press (1923-1945)

Abstract

The article analyzes the perception of the Republic of Turkey from 1923 to 1945 in Croatian newspapers of the period, for instance, daily newspapers Jutarnji list, Narodne novine, Obzor and Novosti, as well as other weekly, biweekly and monthly press. The articles in the newspapers mainly addressed political issues relating to Turkey, but there were also numerous articles about Turkey’s history, economy, finances, culture, etc. The emergence of the Republic of Turkey after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 came as an incentive for the Croatian press to set aside negative connotations concerning the Ottoman Empire and the critique of its socio-political order, and to praise the results of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) and the institutional changes introduced by the new Turkish Republican regime in the 1920s and 1930s. Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) is the person mentioned the most in Turkey-related articles in the Croatian press of the period: his emergence as the Turkish national leader, his reform efforts and subsequently his death in 1938 were widely explored in the Croatian press. The creation of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941 was characterized by the new regime’s interest in the chance to acquire Turkey's international recognition of the Independent State of Croatia. Therefore the Ustasha press propaganda used every opportunity to commend Turkey's neutral diplomatic stance between the warring coalitions of World War II, and introduced Turkey as the most mentioned of the non-Axis countries in the Croatian press of the period.

Keywords

• Turkey,Croatia,newspapers,Croatian-Turkish relations

References

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4. Periodicals (in brackets: publication years examined)Doğu ve Batı (1943-1944)
5. Dom (Zagreb) (1925-1930)
6. Ekonomska politika (1935-1941)
7. Hrvatska sviest (1941-1943)
8. Hrvatski dnevnik (Zagreb) (1936-1941)

9. Hrvatski list (Osijek), (1921-1945)
10. Hrvatski narod. Glasilo Hrvatskog ustaškog pokreta (1939-1945)
11. Hrvatski radnik. Glasilo Hrvatskog Radničkog Saveza (1922-1945)
12. Jutarnji list (1923-1941)
13. Katolička riječ (1935-1941)
14. Muslimanska svijest (1941)
15. Narodne novine (Zagreb) (1923-1945)
16. Narodni val čovječnosti, pravice i slobode (1927-1940)
17. Novo doba (Split) (1923-1941)
18. Novosti (Zagreb) (1923-1941)
19. Osvit (Sarajevo) (1942-1944)
20. Riječ. Nezavisna novinska revija (1920-1931)
21. Slobodni dom. Glavne novine hrvatske republikanske seljačke stranke (1920-1925)
22. Spremnost. Misao i volja ustaške Hrvatske (1942-1945)
23. Vrhbosna (1923-1945)