A Case of Local Press on Agenda Setting. The Effect of the Antalya Newspaper on Turkish-Italian Relations, 1923-1925

Abstract

In this study, the publication policy of «Antalya» newspaper, which caused a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Italy in the early 1920s, for Italian representatives and organizations in Antalya and its effects on Turkish-Italian relations are examined. The main sources of the study are documents obtained from «Antalya» newspaper (1923- 1924) and the Republic of Turkey Presidency State Archives. At the root of the Italian opposition, heavily committed in 1923 and 1924 in «Antalya», is the presence of a reaction to Italy’s potential imperialist policies. Requests from Italian authorities to stop the newspaper’s anti-Italy publications received a negative response from Turkey, citing press freedom. This should also be considered as an attitude towards the potential growing Italian danger in the Eastern Mediterranean. Among the main findings of the study, it is seen that «Antalya» influences Antalya public opinion and local administrators with its methods of setting agendas, creating and framing the news in terms of the way it presents the news. On the other hand, with its ability to set an interagency agenda, it has managed to draw the attention of the Istanbul and Ankara press to the Italian issue. The un-censoring of the publications of the Antalya shows that a liberal press regime was implemented in Turkey at that time.