Public ads of Cumhuriyet newspaper cut for 28 days

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The appeal of Cumhuriyet against the public ad cut imposed by the Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) has been rejected by the local court.

As the İstanbul 3rd Civil Court of First Instance has rejected the appeal, the Agency has cut the public ads of Cumhuriyet for 28 days.

The BİK, in fact, decided to cut the ads of the daily for 45 days; with this ruling, it has notified the newspaper that its ads will be cut for 28 days.

CLICK - Public Ads of Cumhuriyet Cut for 35 Days Over 'Illegal Construction in Bosphorus' News

Cumhuriyet announced the rejection of the court yesterday (November 16). "Affiliated with the Presidential Communications Directorate, the Public Advertising Agency fined Cumhuriyet by cutting its ads for a period of 45 days upon the complaint of Directorate Chair Fahrettin Altun due to our news which were all documented," the newspaper said.

"The objections raised by our newspaper's attorneys have been rejected by the İstanbul 3rd Civil Court of First Instance. After the decision became final, the BİK has notified us that the ad cut will be put into effect."

In its appeal to the court, Cumhuriyet objected to the public ad cut for 37 days over 15 news reports about Fahrettin Altun and upon the complaint of Pasifik Real Estate Investment Construction Corporation and the public ad cut for 8 days imposed on the online version of the newspaper.

With the rejection of the court, 28 days of this 45-day fine have become final. The BİK has notified the newspaper about the cut to be put in effect.

Editor-in-Chief has slammed the cut

Aykut Küçükkaya, the Editor-in-Chief of Cumhuriyet, wrote about the issue in his column yesterday. "We know what our crime is great: Reporting," he said, adding that "with the lawsuits, they had first shown the 'stick' and they were now showing the 'economic stick'."

"They tell Cumhuriyet, 'You will not do reporting... And, above all else, you will not report any negative news about the senior officials in the Palace'."

"They are gravely mistaken!.. They cannot silence Cumhuriyet with such punishments," Editor-in-Chief Küçükkaya said: "Cumhuriyet will not diverge even a single inch from the line set by İlhan Selçuk and Uğur Mumcu; it will always do the only thing that it knows best: 'Journalism!..."

What happened?

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun rented the estate behind his house in the Zone with View to Bosphorus from the Directorate General of Foundations for a period of 10 years.

As reported by Hazal Ocak from daily Cumhuriyet, Altun had a wall built on the estate. While the wall could be seen from many angles, he also had the landscape designed with a road, fireplace and pergola.

The construction in the area was demolished by the teams of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality upon the complaint of his neighbors on April 13.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the news where Altun's residential address and photo were used on the ground that he was "shown as a target to terrorist organizations."

Reporter Hazal Ocak, photojournalist Vedat Arık, Managing Editor Olcay Büyüktaş and Chief Editor İpek Özbey from Cumhuriyet were summoned to depose as part of this investigation on 30 April, 2020.

An access block was also imposed on the related news report as well as similar others that reported after it.

Afterwards, the Public Advertising Agency (BİK) started cutting the public ads of Cumhuriyet newspaper. (HA/SD)