''Nokta'' ("Point" in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

) was a leading

weekly political news magazine. Founded in 1983, it was closed down by its owner in 2007 under military pressure after revealing several coup plots. Revived in 2015, it was closed again in the course of the 2016–17 Turkish purges. Contributors to ''Nokta'' included

Ayşe Arman Ayşe Arman (born 9 December 1969) is a Turkish journalist and columnist of German descent. She is best known for her interviews. Arman is the author of two books, one of which is a compilation of best moments of her interviews made over the past ...

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and Ahmet Şık.

History and profile

The magazine was launched by Ercan Arıklı on 1 March 1982 as ''Nokta ve İnsanlar''. It became ''Nokta'' in 1983. The magazine had a liberal and progressive stance during the Ercan Arıklı period and In 1989 it was the highest-circulation news weekly in Turkey, ahead of ''

2000'e Doğru ''2000'e Doğru'' ( tr, Towards 2000) was a weekly Turkish news magazine. It was published between 1987 and 1992. History and profile ''2000'e Doğru'' was established in January 1987 by Doğu Perinçek. The publisher was Sistem Yayıncılık. In ...

''.Lois Whitman, Thomas Froncek. (1989)
Paying the Price: Freedom of Expression in Turkey
Human Rights Watch, 1989. pp. 30-32 In March 2007, ''Nokta'' ran a story, written by its Editor in Chief, Ahmet Alper Görmüş, revealing a confidential campaign of the military blacklisting some journalists and press organs, based on a leaked report prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff categorizing journalists as "trustworthy" (pro military) and "untrustworthy" (anti military). While the military acknowledged the existence of such a list, they declared that the version published by ''Nokta'' was "only a draft". Metehan Demir of ''

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'' newspaper argued that ''Noktas report did not conform to the format used by the military. Later that month, ''Nokta'' published excerpts of a diary, allegedly written by admiral

Özden Örnek Özden Örnek (2 February 1943, İzmit – 29 April 2018) was a Turkish admiral. He was the Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces from 2003 to 2005. In 2012 Örnek was sentenced to twenty years in prison for his alleged role in the 2003 "Sledg ...

, a former navy commander. Following the publication, the magazines offices were raided by the police in a three-day operation. The diary detailed two plans for a military coup, both by the commanders of the army (

Aytaç Yalman Aytaç Yalman (29 July 1940 – 15 March 2020) was a Turkish general. Biography He was the Commander of the Turkish Army (2002–2004) and previously General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey (2000–2002). He was commissioned in an Arti ...

), navy (Özden Örnek) and the air force (

İbrahim Fırtına Halil Ibrahim Fırtına (born 1941 in Ordu, Turkey) is a retired Turkish Air Force General and Commander of the Turkish Air Force. Firtina retired in 2005 following revelations of the alleged "Sledgehammer" coup plan conspiracy by senior members ...

), together with the gendarmerie chief (

Şener Eruygur Mehmet Şener Eruygur (born 17 June 1941, in Erzurum) is a former Turkish general. He was General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey from 2002 to 2004, and was later head of the Atatürk Thought Association. Eruygur was one of those charge ...

), and aiming to overthrow the

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government in 2004. Subsequently, its owner, Ayhan Durgun, discontinued the publication. Görmüş joined the daily ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulati ...

'' where he criticized journalists who were aware of the diaries for not revealing them. In 2007, ''Nokta'' published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired admiral

, indicating that three coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), and Eldiven (glove). Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery. The Armed Forces prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether. For his part, general

Hurşit Tolon Ahmet Hurşit Tolon (born 3 August 1942) is a retired Turkish general; he was Commander of the First Army of Turkey from 2004 to 2005. In August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment as part of the Ergenekon trials. He was prom ...

said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him. The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment. The diary agrees with minutes of the meeting on which the diary was based. The minutes were found in the home of retired captain Muzaffer Yıldırım who, along with Tolon and Eruygur, was detained in the frame of an investigation into a conspiratorial organization named " Ergenekon". On this basis, now-defunct Taraf newspaper claimed that the diaries were authentic. These excerpts were later cited as key evidence in the March 2009 indictment of a round of suspects, including retired generals Eruygur and Tolon, arrested in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged illegal Ergenekon organization and charged with plotting to overthrow the legal government of the Republic of Turkey.

2015 Revival

In 2015 Ramazan Köse revived the magazine.

Cevheri Güven and Murat Çapan were sentenced to 22.5 years

Cevheri Güven, editor-in-chief of Nokta magazine, and Murat Çapan, Editor-in-Chief, were sentenced to 22.5 years in prison each by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 22 May 2017. Güven and Çapan were accused of 'trying to start a civil war in Turkey' because of the news that Turkey could be dragged into a civil war due to Erdogan's tension policies. Güven and Çapan, who stayed in Silivri Prison for two months in 2015, were then released pending trial. After the release, the court board was disbanded, and the lawyer of Nokta magazine, Kadir Kökten, was arrested. Bünyamin Karakaş, one of the judges of the court, was arrested. The newly appointed court board sentenced the two journalists to 22.5 years in prison separately. The case in which Murat Çapan was tried was overturned in the Court of Appeal in procedural terms. Capan was tried again and his sentence was increased to 25 years by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court. Murat Capan, responsible editor-in-chief of Nokta magazine, went to Greece on May 24, 2017, two days after his 22.5-year prison sentence and applied for asylum. However, he was thrown back to Turkey from the border of Dimetoka by the Greek border security police. Capan was captured and arrested by the Turkish Gendarmerie on the Turkish border. Human Rights Associations and the United Nations reacted to Greece because of this practice. The issue caused great controversy in Greece. The Potami Party filed a criminal complaint against the Syriza government. In addition, the Greek Human Rights Association filed a criminal complaint against the police officers who sent Murat Capan back despite his asylum. Capan is still in prison. Cevheri Güven, on the other hand, left Turkey illegally with her family. He still lives in Europe. Due to a satirical cover image critical of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for inciting and exploiting the conflict and its casualties for personal political PR purposes, the magazine was raided by the police and its 18. edition in September 2015 was banned and the entire circulation confiscated for allegedly "insulting" Erdoğan.

The magazine is closed

The magazine was closed in July 2016. In May 2017, the last editor-in-chief Murat Çapan was sentenced to over 22 years in jail for allegedly "inciting an armed uprising against the Turkish government" and was arrested while attempting to flee to neighboring

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nokta 1982 establishments in Turkey 2007 disestablishments in Turkey 2015 establishments in Turkey 2016 disestablishments in Turkey Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Magazines established in 1982 Magazines disestablished in 2007 Magazines disestablished in 2016 Magazines established in 2015 Magazines published in Istanbul Mass media shut down in the 2016 Turkish purges Turkish-language magazines Weekly news magazines published in Turkey Banned magazines

History and profile

2015 Revival

Cevheri Güven and Murat Çapan were sentenced to 22.5 years

The magazine is closed

See also

References