Newspaper Staff Refuse to Leave Premisses After Closure

Turan Ababey, the owner of Turkey’s recently established newspaper Karşı, released a statement saying that they are facing closure of their print version by April 14. 

“We are publishing our last print issue on April 14. After that, we will continue online,” he wrote on the Karşı website.

Following the statement,  Karşı staff said they refuse to leave the company premisses until their wages are compensated. 

“We are protesting because they are closing the newspaper without a notice and compensation of our salaries,” they said. 

Turan Ababey continued his statement on the closure of the newspaper as follows: 

“When I started this newspaper, I didn’t get any support from neither the Gulen group, nor another parallel entity nor politician. I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. I am ready to face any claim accordingly. We published 42,500 copies the first day of our release and now we went down to 9,500. I am sending all those who contributed to the downfall to God’s mercy and I am keeping my silence.”

According to Radikal newspaper, around 40 staff including editor-in-chief Kutlu Esendemir won’t leave the premisses until their wages are compensated. According to Ababey’s statement, the newspaper had 94 workers.

“Our staff in Ankara and Istanbul headquarters have been laid without any compensation. We will continue our resistance until we get what we deserve,” Karşı Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Kutlu Esendemir said. (HK/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.