TNT History Archives: Armenians Boldly Print Map, While Turks Stew About 'Press Freedom' (1913)

//Ed. note: The map below, printed in Armenian, appeared
in the Armenian newspaper "Azadamard" in Istanbul in 
October 1913.  The Armenian word for "Caucasus" labels 
the region at upper right, which is bookended on the right 
and left by the Caspian and Black Seas.




The Turkish periodical "Türk Yurdu" (Turkish Nation)
published the Armenian map a month later, with attendant
sarcasm to highlight how the foreign-language press in 
Istanbul could publish such things, whereas the Turkish 
press was enjoined from doing so.

The caption at the top of map has been translated by  "Türk 
Yurdu" into Ottoman Turkish: "Economic Influence 
Spheres Related to Railroads in Ottoman Asia".  

The "economic influence spheres" of the foreign powers
are depicted by the various shades, in the following order,
as explained in the map's legend at lower left: 

1. German, 2. French, 3.English, 4. Italian.  Also shown 
are existing (5) and future railroad lines(6) (as translated 
into Ottoman by "Türk Yurdu" at the bottom of the map).// 

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The Press

For newspapers in Istanbul, press freedom changes based on whether
the language is European, Greek, Armenian, Hebrew or Turkish.
Contrary to other countries, the most press freedom is in the hands of
foreigners!  Of course, in light of the famed 'eastern hospitality', this
surely ought to be the case.

First among the foreign-language press in the Ottoman Empire, in terms
of press freedom, are the European languages, followed by Greek,
Armenian and Hebrew, but all of their press freedoms are many times
greater than that of we poor Turks.

After 'Meşrutiyet' (constitutional government restored in 1908) and
the proclamation of equality, should our deference to 'guests'
continue at such a level?  As hostilities have subsided, the English,
Russians, Germans and French have engaged in economic and
political discussions among themselves and with us. Our Turkish
publications have not written much about this, though.

However, our Armenian friends are acting much more boldly.  For
example, in the 2 October 1913 edition of "Azadamard" the map
above was published, with the caption "Economic Influence Spheres
Related to Railroads in Ottoman Asia".  One wonders whether there
are such 'spheres'?

                 "Azadamard" newspaper.