23. Today in 1920s Turkey: 3 October 1923 (What Should We Name Our Country?)

(Question of Government, Karagöz, 3 October 1923, no. 1622, page 1.)

Comments:
Ninety-three years ago today the question of “what should be the new Turkish state’s form of government?” was the hot topic of discussion. Indeed, as mentioned in the previous post this was a recurring subject of debate gracing the pages of many newspapers in October 1923. Ultimately the state was declared a Republic by the end of the month, on 29 October 1923. This illustration represents one of many scenes that could have taken place in the halls of the Turkish Grand National Assembly building in Ankara during these deliberations.
According to the text below, the national representatives are discussing everything from what the name of the new state should be to who should ascend to its highest office. The proposed candidate for the position of president was “the Pasha.” This was a popular way of referring to Mustafa Kemal Paşa after the Independence War (1919-1922). Spoilers: the Pasha does end up becoming the state’s first president on October 29. He remained the head of state until his death in 1938.

The final word in this particular discussion, however, belongs to the journal’s mascot, Karagöz who draws the reader’s attention to the nation’s many problems that still require the attention of a competent and caring administration. Karagöz is the name of a Turkish shadow theater character and his traditional/original “shadow puppet” likeness is included in the journal’s masthead on the right, alongside his sidekick, Hacivat (left). Karagöz also appears in most of this journal’s cartoons. It is easiest to locate him by his quirky headdress—the same as the one featured in the masthead illustration—and his rounded, black beard.

(Masthead detail, Karagöz, 3 October 1923, no. 1622, page 1.)

Karagöz’s physical attributes are not the only qualities that carried over from his shadow puppet character to his print-edition caricature as his personal values are also consistent across media. Karagöz always represents the concerns of the average, working man. In an attempt to hasten these deliberations Karagöz cites a series of basic needs that citizens are still living without including order/security, sustenance, and justice. In this indirect way, Karagöz outlines a hierarchy of priorities, concluding that if the administration cannot succeed in satisfying even the most basic human needs then it does not matter what it is called.

English:
Representatives:
— Our government should take the form of a republic!
— No, it should be a republic in form but its name should include “People’s State.” The Pasha should be the president.
— No, he shouldn’t be the president, he should be both the head of the assembly and the head of the government!
Karagöz: Gentlemen, this is not the time for nit-picking! The villager is dying from lack of order/security, the townsman is broken from starvation. The country is in ruins from corruption. Do whatever you’re going to do so we can get to work!

Türkçe:
Mebuslar:
— Hükümetimizin şekli cumhuriyet olsun!
— Hayır kendi cumhuriyet olsun ama adı halk devleti olsun! Paşa cumhur reisi olsun!
— Hayır reisi cumhur olmasın hem meclis reisi hem hükümet reisi olsun!
Karagöz: Hey erenler olsunla bulsunla vakit geçirecek zamanda değiliz! Köylü asayişsizlikten geberiyor, şehirli açlıktan kırılıyor. Memleket yolsuzluktan harap oluyor. Ne yapacaksanız yapın da işe başlayalım!

Additional Note: Directly below the cartoon is the following notice. “To our esteemed readers: We are hearing that some of our distributers are selling our newspaper for three piasters. As always, Karagöz is 100 paras.” Apparently some rouge sellers wanted to scrape a little extra “profit” off the top of the sales by inflating the price of the newspaper despite the fact that the paper’s price is always printed on the front page (right of the masthead). One para is 1/40 of a piaster. Thus, a single issue of Karagöz is 2.5 piasters or 100 paras. The unscrupulous sellers (paperboys and/or newsstands) were therefore applying their own 20% price hike by charging a whole 3 piasters (or 120 paras) instead of the advertised 2.5 piaster price.

Türkçe: Muhterem karilerimize: Gazetemizi bazı müvezzilerin üç kuruşa sattıklarını işitiyoruz. Karagöz eskisi gibi her yerde 100 paradır.

(Entire page, Karagöz, 3 October 1923, no. 1622, page 1.)