Mehmet Zekeriya SERTEL

Mehmet Zekeriya Sertel (1890-1980) was a Turkish journalist, publisher and an important figure in the history of the press. He started his journalistic career in Salonica during the Ottoman period and became the founder and manager of many important publications in the early years of the Republic. Sertel was especially known for his magazine Resimli Ay (Illustrated Month), made great contributions to the development of the Turkish press and drew attention with his struggle against the development of fascism in the world, which led to the Second World War.

Who is Zekeriya Sertel?

Mehmet Zekeriya Sertel was born in 1890 in the town of Usturumca in Thessaloniki. Sertel, whose real name was Zikri, was the first child of a wealthy family of four children. After receiving his primary education in Thessaloniki, he attended the Thessaloniki Law School to study law. His interest in journalism began when he was studying law. Sertel started working at the newspaper Rumeli, a publication organ of the Committee of Union and Progress, where he stepped into journalism and gained his first experience in his profession. Interested in philosophy and sociology, Sertel learned French and studied sociology at Sorbonne University.

Journalism Life

Mehmet Zekeriya Sertel's journalistic career began in the late Ottoman Empire and developed rapidly in the Republican era. He first published the magazine "Yeni Felsefe" (New Philosophy) with Nebizade Hamdi in Thessaloniki between 1911 and 1912. In 1913, Sertel went to Paris to study sociology at the Sorbonne University and returned to Istanbul during the First World War, where he published the newspaper "Turan". However, after the newspaper was shut down in a short time, he worked at the Directorate of Immigrants, where he worked for the resettlement of the war-affected population to new regions. In 1915, he married Sabiha Hanım.

Following the occupation of Istanbul after World War II, he and his wife contributed to the patriots' efforts to establish a secret organization. When the meetings they organized in their home were reported, he was arrested by the British police. With the scholarship Halide Edip found for her and her husband, she went to the USA and started to study at Columbia University, Faculty of Journalism. She completed her higher education and returned home in 1923.

Zekeriya Sertel went to Anatolia during the War of Independence and served as the General Director of Publications for a short period of time. After the proclamation of the Republic, he founded the newspaper Cumhuriyet together with Yunus Nadi in 1924. As a result of disagreements at the newspaper, Sertel transferred his shares to Yunus Nadi and left. After a while, he started publishing the magazine Resimli Ay with his wife Sabiha Sertel. This magazine became an important platform for Turkish society at the time and attracted attention with its literary and social content. Sertel played an important role especially in introducing Nâzım Hikmet's poems to Turkish readers. The magazine continued to spread progressive ideas until its closure in 1928.

In 1936, he founded the Tan newspaper and began publishing against Nazism and Fascism, which were on the rise in the world. During the Second World War, the newspaper covered the political developments of the war and the period.

Sertel drew attention with his articles that analyzed the war in depth, and strived for Turkey's non-involvement in the war. After the end of the war, Sertel continued to work as a journalist for the end of one-party rule and the establishment of a democratic regime in Turkey, and played a role in the establishment of the Democratic Party. On December 4, 1945, university youth, provoked by the political power of the time, carried out an attack against the newspaper Tan, of which Zekeriya Sertel was the editor-in-chief, and the printing house of the newspaper was destroyed in such a way that it would never be used again, putting an end to the publication of Tan. Zekeriya and Sabiha Sertel, who were known for their oppositional identities, were arrested and tried after the Tan Printing House Raid and had to leave the country after a while.

Impact and Legacy

Mehmet Zekeriya Sertel came to the forefront not only as a journalist but also with his sensitivity on social issues. He wrote articles on issues such as social change and women's rights in the magazine Resimli Ay and collaborated with the great intellectuals of the period. She was also part of the team that prepared Turkey's first general encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Life, between 1932 and 1936. Sertel's journalistic approach aimed to criticize the one-party regime and to inform the public accurately.

In 1945, he founded the Society for the Protection of Human Rights in order to draw attention to human rights violations in Turkey, and in the magazine Görüşler (Opinions), published in the same year, he fought for democracy and freedom.

Sertel left a great legacy with his contributions to the development of the Turkish press and his liberal journalism. She died in 1980 in Paris. Founded in 1996 by his daughters, the Sertel Journalism Foundation gives journalism awards every year to keep his name alive. Zekeriya Sertel's contributions to press freedom and social change have created a great legacy for Turkish journalism.