''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the

Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Staff, the Turki ...

in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulation since November 15, 2007. On July 27, 2016, the newspaper was closed under a statutory decree during the state of emergency after the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...

, due to its alleged links with the coup plotters'

Gülen movement The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...

Overview

''Taraf'' has published a series of highly-controversial stories that revealed the involvement of the Turkish military in daily political affairs. The revealed documents, such as coup plans that involved the bombing of historical mosques in Turkey ( "Sledgehammer" coup plan) and bombing of a museum ( Operation Cage Action Plan), significantly damaged the social image of the Turkish military. The sources that leaked such critical insider information to ''Taraf'' are still unknown. The response of the Turkish military to ''Taraf'' included canceling the newspaper's accreditation from press releases at its headquarters. A political journal, ''

Nokta ''Nokta'' ("Point" in Turkish) was a leading Turkish 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 th ...

'', had similarly published leaked military information ( Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven) and was closed down in 2007 due to pressure. The founder and owner of ''Taraf'', Başar Arslan, dismisses accusations of bias and outside funding, saying that he has made a considerable loss in his mission to create what he calls the country's most prestigious newspaper. He considers ''Taraf'' an investment that will eventually pay off. Some prominent names of ''Taraf'', such as reporter

Mehmet Baransu Mehmet Baransu (born 1977) is a Kurdish journalist and author from Turkey. He is a correspondent for ''Taraf'', and previously worked for ''Aksiyon'' (1997–2000). He is the winner of a 2009 Sedat Simavi Journalism Award. Known for invest ...

, columnist Emre (Emrullah) Uslu, and former columnist Önder Aytaç are known for their affiliation with the

, although it has been denied that they act as quasi-official representatives of the movement. ''Taraf'' also served the interests of the Gülen movement in other ways, including silencing the allegations of cheating in compulsory public servants’ examinations in Turkey.

History

In 2011 ''Taraf'' became the first Turkish partner of the whistle-blowing website

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

, joining internationally known publications in signing a contract to publish the site's leaked documents firsthand. The Turkish daily was picked by WikiLeaks because it is "the bravest newspaper in Turkey", as described by the site's founder, Julian Assange. On 14 December 2012, founding editor-in-chief

Ahmet Altan Ahmet Hüsrev Altan (born 2 March 1950) is a Turkish journalist and author. A working journalist for more than twenty years, he has served in all stages of the profession, from being a night shift reporter to editor in chief in various newspape ...

, his assistant editor Yasemin Çongar, columnists

Murat Belge Murat Belge (born March 16, 1943) is a Turkish academic, translator, literary critic, columnist, civil rights activist, and occasional tour guide. Career Belge was a member of the organizing committee for a two-day academic conference that st ...

and Neşe Düzel stepped down from their posts at the newspaper. The next day, columnist Hadi Uluengin followed the leaving group of journalists. Owner of the daily, Başar Arslan stated that the resignations resulted from difference of opinion that developed in recent times, and nevertheless, the newspaper will continue to be published.

Columnists

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taraf Newspapers published in Istanbul Turkish-language newspapers Publications established in 2007 2007 establishments in Turkey Mass media shut down in the 2016 Turkish purges Defunct newspapers published in Turkey 2016 disestablishments in Turkey Publications disestablished in 2016 Daily newspapers published in Turkey