Yeni Akit

Yeni Akit
Type Daily newspaper
Founded 2010
Political alignment Far-right
Islamic fundamentalism
Antisemitism
Language Turkish
Headquarters Istanbul, Turkey
Circulation 53,977 (July 2013)[1]
Website www.yeniakit.com.tr

Yeni Akit (Turkish: New Agreement) is a conservative and Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. The newspaper is known for its Islamic extremist views, support of militant Islamist organizations like Al-Qaeda,[2] resorting to hate speech against groups like Jews and atheists.[3][4][5] According to a report published by Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the top three Turkish newspapers resorting to hate speech.[6][7] Yeni Akit newspaper is an avid supporter of AKP and has close ties with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[8][9][10]

History

It was founded in 2010 as a successor to Anadolu'da Vakit (2001 - 2010), but later took on the name Vakit. The original Vakit had been sued for defamation by 312 generals for a 2003 editorial written by columnist Asım Yenihaber which criticised the military. Vakit lost the case, and was ordered to pay TL1.8m in 2010.[11] Columnist Abdurrahman Dilipak had his house forcibly sold in 2009 to pay damages relating to a 2000 article.[12]

Controversies

Hate Speech

Yeni Akit newspaper is known for resorting to hate speech against Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Yazidis, atheists, LGBT, secularists, freemasons, socialists, communists, Kemalists, feminists on a daily basis.[13][14][15] According to a report published by Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the top three Turkish newspapers resorting to hate speech.[16][17] As of December 2014, Yeni Akit newspaper had a total number of 270 entries at nefretsoylemi.org, a site maintained by Hrant Dink Foundation, which monitors and reports hate speech at Turkish media.[18]

Anti-semitism

In December 2014 Yeni Akit used a picture of Adolf Hitler as the centerpiece for its daily word game, and the phrase “We long for you” [Seni arıyoruz] as the answer to the puzzle.[19]

In May 2014 Yeni Akit sought to blame Jews in the country’s recent Soma coal mine disaster that left over 300 dead. The newspaper criticized the mine’s owner for having a Jewish son-in-law and ”Zionist-dominated media” for distorting the story.[20][21]

In September 2014 Yeni Akit columnist Faruk Cose called for Turkey’s Jews to be taxed to pay for reconstructing buildings damaged in Gaza during Israel’s recent Operation Protective Edge.[22]

Anti-LGBT

In January 2012, Yeni Akit was fined over comments published in 2008 describing gay people as "perverts".[23]

Targeting of judges

Vakit had also been charged with encouraging the 2006 Turkish Council of State shooting of a judge, which was notionally a protest against a decision blocking the appointment of a teacher wearing a headscarf as principal of a nursery school. Several months earlier Vakit had produced a front page headline, ‘Here are those members’, accompanied by photographs and identities of the chief judge and three members of the 2nd Chamber of the Turkish Council of State responsible for the decision.[24]

Targeting of journalists

In July 2012 over 200 prominent people signed a criminal complaint against Yeni Akit over its attacks on Armenian-origin journalist Ali Bayramoğlu.[25]

In August the newspaper accused Cengiz Çandar and Hasan Cemal of supporting the PKK.[26]

In December 2012 Yeni Akit published a list of 60 journalists it claimed were "terrorists and criminals".[27]

Support of al-Qaeda

In following his death in May 2011, Yeni Akit published a full page condolence in honor of Osama bin Laden.[28]

Denial of Sivas Massacre

Yeni Akit published a front page story on 23 July 2012 declaring the Sivas massacre a "19 Year Lie", claiming the victims had been killed by gunshots rather than fire on the basis of morgue photos it claimed were previously unpublished. The claims were rapidly disproven, and strongly condemned.[29][30]

Conviction of columnist for sexually abusing a minor

In September 2009, Vakit newspaper columnist 78-year-old Hüseyin Üzmez was convicted for sexually abusing a minor and was sentenced to 13 years of prison.[31] Hüseyin Üzmez and Vakit newspaper denied the allegations and insisted this was a conspiracy.

Disinformation during Gezi Protests

During the 2013–14 protests in Turkey Yeni Akit newspaper published many disinformative articles.

On 5 June Mustafa Durdu, a columnist of the Yeni Akit newspaper, claimed that protestors may even have performed group sex inside Dolmabahçe Mosque.[32]

On 13 June Yeni Akit newspaper claimed that prostitution and group sex was common at Gezi park after 2 am. They based this claim on an "anonymous journalist who saw this happening with his own eyes and told it to someone else".[33]

On 15 June Yeni Akit accused supermarket chain Migros of delivering free supplies to the protestors at Gezi park.[34] However, goods delivered to the park were bought by protestors through supermarket's internet shop.

On 24 August Yeni Akit newspaper claimed that Gezi protestors were preparing for a big provocation on the August 30 Victory Day celebrations.[35]

Columnists

  • Abdullah Büyük
  • Abdurrahman Dilipak
  • Ali İhsan Karahasanoğlu
  • Asım Yenihaber
  • Hasan Aksay
  • Hasan Karakaya
  • Kenan Alpay
  • Merve Kavakçı
  • Şevki Yılmaz
  • Yavuz Bahadıroğlu
  • Abdullah Şanlıdağ
  • Abdullah Yıldız
  • Ahmet Gülümseyen
  • Ahmet Varol
  • Ali Erkan Kavaklı
  • Atilla Özdür
  • Ayhan Demir
  • Burak Karen
  • Ersoy Dede
  • Faruk Köse
  • Hacı Yakışıklı
  • Hüseyin Öztürk
  • İbrahim Bektaş
  • Kıvanç Tığlı
  • Latif Erdoğan
  • Mehmet Ali Tekin
  • Mehmet Doğan
  • Mehmet Emin Gerger
  • Mehmet Koçak
  • Mehtap Yılmaz
  • Merve Kavakçı İslam
  • Mesut Bıyık
  • Muhsin Meriç
  • Mustafa Çelik
  • Mustafa Özcan
  • Namık Açıkgöz
  • Nusret Çiçek
  • Osman Atalay
  • Serdar Arseven
  • Serdar Demirel
  • Yaşar Değirmenci
  • Yener Dönmez

References

  1. ↑ medyatava.com, 22.07.2013 - 28.07.2013 Haftası Tiraj Tablosu
  2. ↑ "Akit'te Bin Ladin için taziye ilanı". Sol. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Jews, Armenians main targets of hate speech". Hurriyer Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Othering Through Hate Speech: The Turkish-Islamist (V)AKIT Newspaper as a Case Study". academia.edu. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Reaction grows over daily’s hate speech". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Study reveals increasing hate speech in Turkish press". Al Monitor. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Hate speech on the rise in Turkish media". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Shameful Anti-Semitism From Yeni Akit Newspape". Aydınlık Daily. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Columnist at Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper Calls for Taxing Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Erdogan calls Israel more barbaric than Hitler, but defends Turkish Jews". JTA. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  11. ↑ Daily Vakit to pay damages to 312 generals Hurriyet Daily News, 8 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Vakit columnist's house sold over Feb. 28 column Today's Zaman, 20 August 2009.
  13. ↑ "Jews, Armenians main targets of hate speech". Hurriyer Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Othering Through Hate Speech: The Turkish-Islamist (V)AKIT Newspaper as a Case Study". Academia. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Reaction grows over daily’s hate speech". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Study reveals increasing hate speech in Turkish press". Al Monitor. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  17. ↑ "Hate speech on the rise in Turkish media". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Yeni Akit Nefret Söylemi". Hrant Dink Vakfı. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Shameful Anti-Semitism From Yeni Akit Newspape". Aydınlık Daily. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Conservative daily stirs outrage over anti-Semitic headline after Turkey’s Soma disaster". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Jews Implicated by Pro-Erdoğan Turkish Newspaper for Coal Mine Disaster". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Columnist at Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper Calls for Taxing Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  23. ↑ Calling gay people 'perverts' an insult, top court says Hurriyet Daily News, 9 January 2012.
  24. ↑ İbrahim Efe, Murat Yeşiltaş (2012), "Representations of the Ergenekon Case in Turkey, 2007–11: Today's Zaman and Hürriyet Daily News", Middle East Critique, Vol. 21, Iss. 2, 2012
  25. ↑ Reaction grows over daily’s hate speechHurriyet Daily News, 5 July 2012.
  26. ↑ Columnist fired for defending journalists targeted by Yeni Akit Today's Zaman, 31 August 2012.
  27. ↑ Committee to Protect Journalists, 26 December 2012, Turkish journalist attacked amid smear campaign on press
  28. ↑ "Akit'te Bin Ladin için taziye ilanı". Sol. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  29. ↑ Today's Zaman, 23 July 2012, Sivas massacre victims died of gunshots, not fire, daily claims
  30. ↑ The Sivas Massacre is a ‘19 year lie’: Yeni Akit, 27 July 2012
  31. ↑ "Üzmez sentenced to 13 years". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  32. ↑ BUNLAR CIA’nın ÇOCUKLARI - Mustafa Durdu
  33. ↑ “Kendi Gözlerimle Gördüm”
  34. ↑ Eylemcileri Migros Besliyor
  35. ↑ Geziciler 30 Ağustos’ta Provokasyona Hazırlanıyor

External links

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