 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | Turkuvaz Media Group |
| Publisher | Turkuvaz Gazete Dergi Basım A.Ş. |
| Editor-in-chief | İbrahim Altay |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Political alignment | Erdoğanism Right-wing populism Conservatism |
| Language | English, Arabic |
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Circulation | 8,588[1] |
| Website | dailysabah.com |
TheDaily Sabah (lit. 'Daily Morning') is a Turkish[2] pro-government daily newspaper[3][4][5] published in Turkey. Available in English and owned byTurkuvaz Media Group,Daily Sabah published its first issue on 24 February 2014.[6][7] Since 2018, the editor-in-chief is İbrahim Altay.[8]
The newspaper has been frequently called apropaganda outlet for the Turkish government and the rulingJustice and Development Party (AKP).[3][4][5][9] It is owned by a friend of Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[10]
TheDaily Sabah was established in 2014 when a highly-antagonistic political climate reigned inTurkish politics. After the conflict in December 2013 between theGülen movement, a religious civil society organization with some political aspirations, and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Gülen movement'sToday's Zaman turned into an ardent critic of the ruling AKP. To balance the critical discourse against the AKP byToday's Zaman andHürriyet Daily News, a secular critic of the AKP,Daily Sabah emerged as a supportive voice of the AKP in the English language.[11][12]
Daily Sabah describes itself as "committed to the democracy, the rule of law, human rights and liberty".[13] However, the paper is described as a mouthpiece of the AKP byForeign Policy.[9]
According to the German newspaperDer Spiegel,Daily Sabah is critical of the Gülen movement, which the AKP government accuses of trying to overthrow the government inan attempted coup in 2016.[14]Daily Sabah has been described as using transparent, ill-formed, and Turkish-style propaganda to advance the AKP government's version of events byDer Spiegel.[14]
In March 2017,Jeroen Lenaers of theEuropean Parliament calledDaily Sabah "hate press" and tried to prohibit the distribution ofDaily Sabah in parliamentary sessions. The European Parliament has made accusations about the lack of freedom of speech and expression in Turkey, andDaily Sabah defends the AKP government's human rights record.Daily Sabah has said the decision to prohibit its distribution was a violation of the freedoms of the press and expressions. Meanwhile, the EU Affairs Minister for TurkeyÖmer Çelik, who is also a member of AKPper se, said the following about the issue: "The European Parliament's ban on the freedom of press is a tragic event for the future of Europe."[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]