The center for the revival of Arab scientific heritage has organized a seminar on “Al-Zawra Newspaper: the first Iraqi newspaper” delivered by the lecturer Dr. Mazin Qassim Muhlhal who discussed this history of this Iraqi newspaper, which is not just a publication but it is a cultural achievement dates back to a civilized starting point in the modern history of Iraq and that indicated the existence of a percentage of educated people in the country, where the first issue was published in June 15, 1869, which led to the choice of this date as the Iraqi Press Day and it ceased publication at 1917 .
Dr. Mazin Qassim added that the publication of this newspaper is an important part of the reforms of the Ottoman governor Midhat Pasha that included political, social and cultural articles, as well as it published the Ottoman Fermans that represent any written commands bearing the sultan’s seal or sign issued in connection with the awarding of an appointment, position or a degree by the ruler at the time. He stated that the newspaper is published in four pages, two in Ottoman and two in Arabic language and whose editor-in-chief was Ahmet Mithat Efendi, pointing out the importance of this newspaper even at the present during the information revolution that is currently existing for its Cultural richness.
