Young Ottomans

The Young Ottomans (Turkish: Yeni Osmanlılar) were a secret society established in 1865 by a group of Ottoman Turkish intellectuals dissatisfied with the Tanzimat reforms. Young Ottomans sought to transform the Ottoman society by preserving the empire, revitalizing Islam and modernizing along the European traditions. Among the prominent members of this society were writers and publicists İbrahim Şinasi, Namik Kemal, Ali Suavi, Ziya Pasha and Agah Efendi.

In 1867, Namik Kemal and other Young Ottomans published the open letter of a disgruntled Egyptian prince Mustafa Fazl Pasha to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, advocating constitutional and parliamentary governance. After the publication, the Ottoman government cracked down on Young Ottomans causing them to flee to Paris, where they continued operating under the patronage of Mustafa Fazl Pasha.

Young Ottomans were deeply influenced by the liberal ideals of French Revolution. İbrahim Şinasi, Namik Kemal and Ziya Pasha coined the concept of hürriyet (freedom) among the Muslim Turks. Between 1868 and 1870, the latter two published a weekly newspaper titled the Hürriyet in London and Geneva.

The failure of the "Young Ottoman" policies (Ottomanism) in reverting the decline of the Ottoman Empire led groups of intellectuals to search for other means. One of these groups was the Young Turks, which brought the Empire to the Second Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire) and then to World War I, with the policies developed under the Three Pashas.