10 Aralık 1918 tarihinde Trabzon'da yayınlanmaya başlayan İstikb?l gazetesi yayınlandığı günden başlayarak milli direnişi örgütlemek amacı güden bir politika izlemiştir. Bu çerçevede gazete Trabzon Muhafaza-i Hukuk-ı Milliye Cemiyeti'nin kurulmasına öncülük etmiş ve bu cemiyetin basın sözcülüğünü yapmıştır. I. ve II. Trabzon Kongreleri ile Erzurum Kongresi'ne uzanan süreçte, amacı doğrultusunda yoğun bir basın faaliyeti yürütmüştür. Bir taraftan da yerel muhalif Türk ve azınlık basınlarıyla mücadele eden gazete, halkı bunlara sürdürmüştür. Sivas Kongresi sonrası Ankara'da oluşan Milli Mücadele kadrolarına tam destek vermiş ve yürütülen tüm direniş hareketlerini "Ya istiklal tam ya ölüm" parolasıyla sayfalarına taşımıştır. Her türlü olumsuzluk ve imkânsızlıklara, baskı ve yıldırmalara karşı kamuoyu oluşturmaya çalışmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda Milli Mücadele'nin başarıya ulaşacağına olan inancını kamuoyuna aşılamayı ihmal etmeyen gazete, buna yönelik olarak başarı haberlerini etkili sevinç ifade eden başlıklarla, kritik ve olumsuz cephe ve cephe gerisi haberleri de büyük bir metanet ve ümit dolu gazete yazılarıyla okuyucusuna aktarmaya çalışmıştır. Bu bakımdan diyebiliriz ki İstikb?l'in, Milli Mücadele'nin başarılmasında, önce yerel ve bölgesel devamında da ulusal bir etkisinin olduğu yadsınamaz bir gerçektir. Gazete başta oluşan yerel gazete kimliğine, gelişen süreçle birlikte ve tüm bölgelerde verilen Milli Mücadele savaşıyla, ulusal bir aidiyet kazandırabilmiştir. Bu da hem gazetenin, bölgenin sesini tüm Anadolu'ya duyurmasına olanak sağlamış hem de bölgede tüm Anadolu'nun sesinin duyulmasını olanaklı kılmıştır. Şüphesiz böyle bir sonuç da Milli Mücadele'nin başarısına büyük bir katkı olmuştur

The Istikbȃl, first published in Trabzon on December 10, 1918, aimed to help organize the national resistance from the very first day. The newspaper played an important role in the foundation of Trabzon Muhafaza-i Hukuk-ı Milliye Cemiyeti (SocietyfortheDefence of theNationalRights of Trabzon) and helped spread its thoughts. The newspaper made great contributions by intensive coverage to the process leading to Trabzon and Erzurum Congresses. It also struggled against the other newspapers taking side of the opposition and tried to create awareness among people. Trabzon, where the Istikbal was published, stands out as an important center in Anatolia. Trabzon is one of the most important intellectual centers of theregion. The city was founded by the colonists of Miletus in the 8th century B.C. Most of the architectural works in the city dateback to the Byzantine, Commenian and Ottoman periods. There is a historical identity of thecity. Trabzon also an important geographical intersection. İt is an important and large port on the Black Sea coast. Trabzon has connection swith the ports of the other countries having shores on the Black Sea. The town was also an important media center before the National Struggle period. Local property Turkish, Greek and Armenian pres was operating. But the Turkish press had an important impact especially during the Russian occupation. Newspapers prohibited, printing houses had been destroyed. Greeks and Armenians had been particularly effective in this destruction. Therefore, it seemed difficult to input a repres activities. Set up the printing press, to supply newsprint and most importantly, it was necessary to create cadres who could benefit newspapers. But it also contained an additional challenge. Because the country was under occupation and the Ottoman Empire was falling apart . This is an important background. The location of the city and feature a parallel feature shows the importance of the publication of newspapers The İstikbâl newspaper’s being published here was important as it is an effective transport and logistics base and often visited by many soldiers and officers to hold important meetings and discussions about the resistance in local and national level. Therefore many important decisions are taken here about the National Struggle. These meetings and discussions were of great importance and were held in Faik Ahmet Barutçu’s office in the Istikbâl’s building. Greek and Armenian uprisings and their acts of violence and terror in local and national scale during the National Struggle made it necessary to start a movement based in Trabzon. Therefore, Trabzon Muhafaza-iHukuk-ı MilliyeCemiyeti (Society for the Defence of the National Rights of Trabzon) was soon established. Most of the members of this association were from the İstikbâl newspaper staff. The Society also worked in other cities in the Black Sea region like Rize, Gumushane, Ordu, and Giresun to spread the idea that against the separation of the eastern Black Sea region from the Turkish state, all necessary measures would be taken. Following two important congresses in Trabzon (Trabzon Congress I and II), the Erzurum Congress was held with the dynamism created by all this effort. This regional resistance gradually earned a national identity and representation. The Sivas Congress, where almost all the decisions made during the Erzurum were agreed on, moved this identity spirit higher. The movement started by the Istikbal was the source of the original spirit of national struggle, therefore, the Trabzon-Erzurum alliance, in this sense, was very important as the very first point where the National struggle started. The Newspaper kept informing the people about all the aspects of the National Struggle and maintained continuous support. It gave full support to the staff of the National Struggle formed in Ankara after the Sivas Congress and reflected all resistance movements in its pages with the motto " Full Independence or Death". In spite of all the problems and difficulties, the İstikbâl newspaper tried to create public opinion against oppression and intimidation. For this purpose, it expressed that the National Struggle would succeed with joyful headings and hope filled articles, while it gave less place for bad news. The Istikbȃl, in this respect, played an important role in the victory in local and regional level. During the Battle of Sakarya and pre-war period, the İstikbâl newspaper’s policy was to reflect all the national initiatives including tekalif-imilliye (national responsibility (Tax)) in order to provide logistical and humanitarian support for the National struggle and the battle of Dumlupınar. As one of the first newspapers established to create a national resistance movement in Anatolia in 1918, the Istikbal followed a very influential policy and made very effective publications. It did everything to support National Struggle and took its place in history. The main purpose of the Newspaper’s publishers was to create resistance against the enemy. The Society for the Defense of the National Rights of Trabzon played an important role and made great contributions to this struggle. The editorial policy of the İstikbâl was shaped according to decisions made during Trabzon, Erzurum and Sivas Congresses. The newspaper always took the side of the struggle for independence from start to finish. The Newspaper spoke for the leaders of the local and national institutions and supported them. The İstikbâl newspaper was highly influential with the articles written by FaikAhmetBarutçu. Barutçu was the editor and head writer. He supported the national struggle, and accordingly he published important articles. He followed closely the developments about the military and war. With effective headlines, articles and news about the war, the Paper provided information related to internal and external developments. The İstikbâl also struggled with the opposing newspapers by means of journalism. The beginning period of existence struggles of nations is important. People fight to save their land altogether and fulfill a duty altogether to achieve the goals. Military, civilians, politicians and the press have separate important tasks to perform. İstikbȃl newspaper, as one of the newspapers that ignited the National Struggle, played the press part of the struggle by speaking for the leaders of the struggle and informing the public. It played an important role in the organization of regional and local institutions and associations that carried out important tasks during the National Struggle.