Ali Suavi

Who was Ali Suavi?

Ali Suavi was an Ottoman political activist, teacher, theologian, and reformer. He taught at a Bursa elementary school, preached at the Sehzade Mosque in Istanbul, wrote at Philip Efendi’s newspaper Muhbir, and worked in different positions at offices in Simav, Plovdiv, and Sofia. He was a member of the Young Ottomans and editor of its official journal. He was exiled to Kastamonu because of his writings against Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz.

He is considered the first modern Turk to die in the pursuit of democratic ideals. Originally trained in religious sciences, Suavi was an Islamic radical who was placed in charge of the first Young Ottoman publication to appear in Europe, Muhbir. The newspaper eventually became an embarrassment to the Young Ottomans, and soon thereafter, fellow Young Ottomans Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha requested that Suavi remove the Young Ottoman association with the publication. Suavi drifted around to various cities and grew bitter against the Young Ottomans, eventually leading him to begin publishing a periodical that lambasted both the republican Young Ottomans and the monarchist Ottoman Sultan's government alike as enemies of the people. Despite his opposition to the contemporary Sultan's government, Ali Suavi's writings showed great respect to the institution of the Sultan, which in Suavi's belief would best be filled, for the common good of the people, by an enlightened absolutist.