Transnational Turks, print media, and U.S.-Turkish ties, 1919-1952

Between 1919 and 1952 four Ottoman and later Turkish editors, journalists, and public intellectuals named Halide Edib Adıvar, Ahmet Emin Yalman, Zekeriya Sertel, and Sabiha Sertel wrote extensively in English and Turkish about the U.S. and new Turkish Republic. Their education at American educational institutions and travel between the two countries allowed them to speak to both Turks and Americans through books and newspaper articles. Previously, information regarding the Ottoman Empire and Turkey came almost solely from American missionaries and Ottoman Armenians and centered on the Armenian Genocide. These figures, however, were able to establish themselves as authoritative voices about the U.S. in Turkey and Turkey in the U.S. I argue that they should be seen as cultural brokers who were able to speak to the inhabitants of both the U.S. and Turkey and strove to influence public opinion in both countries surrounding topics such as national security and democracy.