Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Küçükkaya withdraws his resignation

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Cumhuriyet Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Aykut Küçükkaya has withdrawn his resignation shortly after he resigned from the daily by announcing that "he was pressured by Cumhuriyet Foundation Chair Alev Coşkun into forcing the journalists to resign from the union."

Writing an article about the issue, Küçükkaya has announced that the dispute has been resolved. The Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) has not yet made a statement about this recent development.

Both the union and newspaper staff demanded that Küçükkaya return to his job and the anti-union pressures at the daily be ended.

'Crises are there to be resolved'

Küçükkaya has announced his decision to withdraw his resignation in an article titled "100th year message." Noting that "the crises are there to be resolved", he has said, "What matters is not names, but Cumhuriyet."

According to Küçükkaya's article, he and Cumhuriyet Foundation Chair Alev Coşkun had a meeting a day before.

"The 97-year tradition of Cumhuriyet once again showed us the right path. This path was to 'find the best' by discussing," Küçükkaya has written, announcing that "he is back in his jobs upon the requests of the members of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board, all Cumhuriyet staff and the readers of Cumhuriyet, the true owners of the newspaper."

He has also announced that "they will go to the anniversary of Cumhuriyet on May 7, 2024 with Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) Chair on one side and Türk-İş Confederation Chair on the other."

What happened?

Ahead of the negotiations for the collective labor agreement between the Cumhuriyet newspaper and the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS), Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Aykut Küçükkaya resigned on July 29.

Küçükkaya announced that Cumhuriyet Foundation Chair Alev Coşkun pressured him into forcing the editors to resign from the TGS.

According to Aykut Küçükkaya, "the issue came to the point of 'Either your colleagues will resign or you will step down as the editor-in-chief'." The journalist indicated that he had submitted his letter of resignation to the Cumhuriyet Foundation for this reason.

Afterwards, Cumhuriyet newspaper released a statement about the resignation of Küçükkaya and the union activities at the daily.

The statement said, "The Collective Bargaining initiated by the TGS took place at Cumhuriyet newspaper today at 11 am. The legal process will continue. The administration of Cumhuriyet is not against union activities. The union has been organized at Cumhuriyet for many years."

While the collective bargaining was expected to take place between the Cumhuriyet newspaper and the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) on July 29, the TGS has announced that the newspaper refused to start the negotiations for the new collective labor agreement. (HA/SD)