 | |
 First issue, dated 1 May 1948 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Berliner (Broadsheet prior to 15 October 2012) |
| Owner(s) | Demirören Holding |
| Editor | Hasan Kılıç |
| Founded | 1948 (1948) |
| Political alignment | Mainstream Liberalism Secularism[1] |
| Language | Turkish |
| Headquarters | Güneşli,Bağcılar |
| City | Istanbul |
| Country | Turkey |
| Circulation |  319,273 (8 January 2018 – 14 January 2018)[2] |
| Website | www |
Hürriyet (Turkish pronunciation:[hyɾ.ɾiˈjet]ⓘ,Liberty) is a majorTurkish newspaper, founded in 1948. As of January 2018,[update] it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000.[2]Hürriyet combines entertainment with news coverage and has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook.[1]
Hürriyet has regional offices inIstanbul,Ankara,İzmir,Adana,Antalya andTrabzon, as well as a news network comprising 52 offices and 600 reporters in Turkey and abroad, all affiliated withDoğan News Agency, which primarily serves newspapers and television channels that were previously under the management ofDoğan Media Group (Doğan Yayın Holding).Hürriyet is printed in six cities in Turkey and inFrankfurt, Germany.[3] As of January 2017[update], according toAlexa, its website was the tenth most visited in Turkey, the second most visited of a newspaper and the fourth most visited news website.[4] On 21 March 2018, Doğan Yayın Holding, the parent company ofHürriyet, was sold toDemirören Holding for approximately $1.2 billion. The Demirören Group is known for its pro-government stance.[5]
Hürriyet was founded bySedat Simavi on 1 May 1948 with a staff of 48. Selling 50,000 copies in its first week,[6]Hürriyet was Simavi's 59th and last publication. On 13 January 1965 the paper was confiscated by the Turkish authorities shortly after the publication of the letter of the US PresidentLyndon B. Johnson toİsmet İnönü.[7] In the letter, Johnson overtly stated that Turkey should not organize any military intervention in Cyprus.[7]
It is considered a high-circulation newspaper in Turkey.[8][9]
In 2018,Hurriyet was bought byDemirören Holding, owned by the Demirören family, who are considered to be close toPresident Erdoğan.[10]
In February 2009, the newspaper received an 826.2 million TL (US$523 million) fine for tax evasion by Doğan Group/Petrol Ofisi. Following this, theIstanbul Stock Exchange suspended Doğan Holding's shares,[11][12][13] and Fitch downgraded the rating ofHürriyet to 'BB−'.[14]
Executives at the Doğan Group expressed the opinion that the tax fine was politically motivated "intimidation", caused byHürriyet's linking of Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and his political party,AKP, to a charity scandal in Germany. In March 2009,Jose Manuel Barroso, president of theEuropean Commission, expressed public concern about the fine, saying that it threatened "pluralism and freedom of the press."[15]
In September 2009, Doğan Group was fined a record US$2.5 billion, related to alleged past tax irregularities.[15][16]
The September fine caused further expressions of public concern from the European Commission, as well as theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[17] It also caused some critics and global investors[18] to compare the fines to then-Russian PresidentVladimir Putin's use of tax-evasion charges to bankrupt oil companyYukos for allegedly political reasons. In an interview, Erdoğan denied this charge, calling it "very ugly" and "disrespectful" to both himself and Putin.[17]
Hürriyet, along withPantene, sponsors the annualGolden Butterfly Awards, in which its readers vote for nominees in the fields of Turkish television and music.[19]
I am no great fan ofHürriyet as a newspaper. I believe it abuses the considerable authority it wields.
...Türkiye'nin en etkili gazetesi...
(in Turkish)
