Click to read the article in Turkish
"The government's policies of pressure, censorship and bans targeting media outlets have led to a marked decrease in the number of national newspapers published in Turkey. Taken together with the ever-deepening economic crisis, it has caused newspapers to be closed one by one as they are unable to keep their heads above water.
"Considering that the government has been curtailing union rights, trying to bring those media outlets whose publication policies it finds unfavourable into line through the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and Press Advertisement Institution (BİK), seizing media outlets with public force and handing them over to its supporters by the hand of Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) and become the 'sole' power in the media, it is seen that its policies of pressure have borne fruit.
"The latest data shared by the TurkStat also shows that freedom of expression has deteriorated and newspapers cannot continue publishing."
It is how Gamze Akkuş-İlgezdi, the Vice Chair of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), summarizes the current state of the press in Turkey.
Akkuş-İlgezdi has recently prepared a report with the aim of documenting how the media in the country have been monopolized and how the pluralism in the media has been replaced by a single voice.
According to the report, the government's policies of pressure, censorship and bans have led to a marked decrease in the number of national newspapers in Turkey. Commenting on the report, Akkuş-İlgezdi has said, "Due to the process of 'one man, one media, one voice' that we are going through, two newspapers had to close per week."
CLICK - Circulation of newspapers, magazines has dropped by half in Turkey in the last 10 years
'Number of newspapers dropped by 24 percent'
The number of newspapers closed in Turkey has been increasing incrementally, Akkuş-İlgezdi has noted and added, "While the number of regional, local and national newspapers was 3 thousand 100 in 2013, it decreased by 25 percent to 2 thousand 337 in 2019. It means that 2 regional, local or national newspapers were closed a week in 2013-2019."
According to CHP's Akkuş-İlgezdi, the State of Emergency, which remained in effect for two years following the coup attempt in 2016, has made Turkey pay a heavy price. Referring to the Constitutional referendum in 2017, she has underlined that it has marked the turning point when "the mindset of 'one man, one media, one voice' has dominated Turkey."
According to the report of the CHP Vice Chair, "Between 2017 and 2019, when Turkey adopted the One Man Rule, 137 newspapers were closed. With the Presidential Government System entering into force, the rate of closed newspapers in Turkey has become 6 percent."
'Circulation dropped by 48 percent'
Referring to a series of factors such as the pressure on opposition media, radical changes in the media ownership and monopolization caused by pro-government circles, she has noted that all these factors have led to a significant decline in the number of newspapers that can actually be read.
"It has also been reflected in the circulation of newspapers," she has said, adding that while the circulation of national newspapers was 1 billion 909 million 495 thousand 223 in 2013, it dropped by 48 percent in 2019."
Calculating the decline in circulation by minutes, she has noted that "from 2013 to 2019, the circulation of national newspapers fell by 250 issues."
'43 people lost their jobs in a week'
In addition to the circulation of newspapers, CHP's Akkuş-İlgezdi has also raised concerns about the unemployed journalists:
"While the number of laborers working in the press was 51 thousand 843 in 2013, this number has dropped by 30 percent over the past 7 years. Accordingly, 43 laborers lost their jobs in a week and the number of laborers working for newspapers and magazines in Turkey was announced as 36 thousand 263 as of 2019."
'Reason of job loss: One Man Regime'
According to Akkuş-İlgezdi, 4 thousand 892 press workers lost their jobs from 2017 to 2019. Referring to the TurkStat data, she has said, "31 percent of 15 thousand 580 press workers who lost their jobs in 2013-2019 were left unemployed after Turkey adopted Presidential Government System." (HA/SD)
