Özet:

Open letter tradition, which has been inherited from Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey, emerges as a tool of doing politics and creating public opinion in our recent history. Open letters began in the 1860’s when the Young Ottomans emerged; although they lost their intensity and importance over time, they continued until today. Especially the years, that open letters intensify, covers the period from Second Constitution to 1965. Our study on open letters is planned in two parts. The first part will cover the open letters from 1938 to 1950 and the second part will cover the open letters in the Democratic Party era, which is from 1950 to 1960. Open letters can be considered as a method of making an individual politics at first sight. However it can also be said that they have the aim of creating public opinion in a specific subject. The interlocutors of these open letters are usually the leaders of the ruling party at the time and their practices. Therefore, in open letters, an oppositional understanding, a critical approach and political polemics are striking. However, in some open letters, which are less in number, opposition parties, their leaders and the political lines of these parties have been criticized by pro-government people. It can be said that these open letters, which are used either as a means of making politics or as a resource group, have not been used sufficiently in the historical studies regarding the relevant periods. Therefore, this study is regarded as a beginning of both revealing the awareness of a resource group and explaining open letters as a means of making politics. At the same time, this also constitutes the main purpose of this study.

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