''Yeni Akit'' (literally "New Agreement") is an Islamic-conservative Turkish

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

. ''Yeni Akit'' is aligned with

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

and has been criticised for homophobia and hate against the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

History

The newspaper was founded in 2010 as a successor to ''Anadolu'da Vakit'' (2001–2010), but later took on the name ''Vakit''. The original ''Vakit'' had been sued for defamation by 312 generals for a 2003 editorial written by columnist Asım Yenihaber which criticised the military. ''Vakit'' lost the case, and was ordered to pay 1.8M TL in 2010. Columnist

Abdurrahman Dilipak Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...

had his house forcibly sold in 2009 to pay damages relating to a 2000 article.

Controversies

Role in Turkish Council of State shooting

''Vakit'' had been charged with encouraging the 2006

Turkish Council of State shooting The Turkish Council of State shooting occurred on 17 May 2006. Alparslan Arslan entered the Council of State building in Ankara and shot five judges, killing judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin. Arslan was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008. Incid ...

of a judge, which was notionally a protest against a decision blocking the appointment of a teacher wearing a headscarf as principal of a nursery school. Several months earlier, ''Vakit'' had produced a front-page headline, ‘Here are those members’, accompanied by the photographs and identities of the chief judge and three members of the 2nd Chamber of the

Turkish Council of State The Council of State ( tr, Danıştay) is the highest administrative court in the Republic of Turkey and is located in Ankara. Its role and tasks are prescribed by the Constitution of Turkey within the articles on the supreme courts. According to ...

responsible for the decision.

Hate Speech

According to a report published by the Hrant Dink Foundation, ''Yeni Akit'' is one of the top three Turkish newspapers featuring

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

. ''Yeni Akit'' is known for featuring opposite ideas against

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...

, Gülenists,

Alevis Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, ...

secularists Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

, pan-Turkists, Kemalists,

Grey Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

, and

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

, among others, on a daily basis.

Anti-semitism

In May 2014, ''Yeni Akit'' sought to blame Jews in the country's recent Soma coal mine disaster that left over 300 dead. The newspaper criticized the mine's owner for having a Jewish son-in-law and "

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

-dominated media" for distorting the story. In September 2014, ''Yeni Akit'' columnist Faruk Cose called for Turkish Jews to be taxed to pay for reconstructing buildings damaged in Gaza during

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Operation Protective Edge The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that h ...

. In July 2014, the newspaper used a picture of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

as the centerpiece for its daily word game, and the phrase "Seni arıyoruz" translating to ''''We long for you'''' as the answer to the puzzle.

Anti-LGBT

In January 2012, ''Yeni Akit'' was fined by the Turkish High Court of Appeals over comments published in 2008 describing gay people as "perverts." In the aftermath of the 2016

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9- ...

the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviants" or "perverted", which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.

Anti-Atatürk

On Atatürk's 75. death anniversary, on ''Yeni Akit'''s newspaper had a full page ad, that had the phrase ''Olmasaydı da olurduk'' translating to ''''We would still be here if he didn't exist'''' referring to Atatürk. In January 2015, the newspaper posted a photo on their Facebook of Atatürk with a make-up filter and a darped up filter applied to it. Against this members of the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party of Turkey) protested in front of the ''Yeni Akit'' Headquarters. It is alleged that ''Yeni Akit'' employees fired bullets at the protesters.

Censoring of women

The newspaper censors images of women in both their print and online edition by blurring all uncovered skin. In some cases, women in the image are completely blurred out.

Targeting of journalists

In July 2012, over 200 prominent people signed a criminal complaint against ''Yeni Akit'' over its attacks on liberal Islamic journalist Ali Bayramoğlu. In August, the newspaper accused

Cengiz Çandar Cengiz Çandar (born 1948) is a Turkish journalist, senior columnist, and a Middle East expert. He is the author of Turkey’s Neo-Ottomanist Moment - A Eurasianist Odyssey (Policy Series) (2021); Turkey's Mission Impossible: War and Peace with t ...

and

Hasan Cemal Hasan Cemal (born 1944) is a Turkish journalist and writer. He was the editor of ''Cumhuriyet'' from 1981 to 1992, and of ''Sabah'' from 1992 to 1998. In 2013 he resigned from the '' Milliyet'' newspaper after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ...

of supporting the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

. In December 2012, ''Yeni Akit'' published a list of 60 journalists who, it claimed, supported the PKK, and called the journalists "terrorists and criminals".

Support of bin Laden

Following his death in May 2011, ''Yeni Akit'' published a full page condolence in honor of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

Denial of Sivas Massacre

''Yeni Akit'' published a front-page story on 23 July 2012 declaring the

Sivas massacre The Sivas massacre ( tr, Sivas Katliamı) or Madimak massacre ( tr, Madımak Katliamı) refers to the events of July 2, 1993 at the Hotel Madimak (''Otel Madımak'') in Sivas, Turkey, which resulted in the killing of 37 people, mostly Alevi intel ...

a "19 Year Lie", claiming the victims had been killed by gunshots rather than fire on the basis of morgue photos it claimed were previously unpublished. The claims were rapidly disproven, and strongly condemned by many.

Conviction of columnist for sexually abusing a minor

In September 2009's Bursa 4. Aggravated Felony Court's final hearing found ''Vakit ''newspaper columnist 78-year-old Hüseyin Üzmez convicted for sexually abusing a minor and was sentenced to 13 years 1 month 15 days in prison. Against the appeal, Penal Department No. 9 of the Supreme Court held another trial on 14 November 2012 where he was sentenced with the same time in prison. In 2012, Hüseyin Üzmez entered prison again, and in 2014 he was discharged from prison due to health problems and psychological problems. He died 12 days later. The newspaper denied the allegations and insisted this was a conspiracy.

Disinformation during Gezi Protests

During the

Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park prote ...

in Turkey, ''Yeni Akit'' published many disinformative articles. On 5 June Mustafa Durdu, a columnist at the newspaper, claimed that protestors may even have performed

group sex Group sex is sexual behavior involving more than two participants. Participants in group sex can be of any sexual orientation or gender. Any form of sexual activity can be adopted to involve more than two participants, but some forms have their ...

inside

Dolmabahçe Mosque The Dolmabahçe Mosque is a baroque waterside mosque in Kabataş in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, close to the Dolmabahçe Palace. It was commissioned by Queen Mother Bezmialem Valide Sultan and designed by the Turkish Armenian arc ...

. On 13 June, ''Yeni Akit'' claimed that

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and

was common at Gezi park after 2 am. They based this claim on an "anonymous journalist who saw this happening with his own eyes and told it to someone else". On 15 June, the newspaper accused supermarket chain

Migros Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Mig ...

of delivering free supplies to the protestors at Gezi park. However, goods delivered to the park were bought by protestors through the supermarket's online store. On 24 August, ''Yeni Akit'' claimed that Gezi protestors were preparing for a "big provocation" during the August 30 Victory Day celebrations.

Orlando nightclub shooting

Following the

, the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviant" or "perverted," which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.

2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident

During the 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident, ''Yeni Akit'' wrote a suggestive article which noted that while there were "400,000 Turks living in the Netherlands," the

Dutch army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

"has 48,000 soldiers.""Netherlands Dispute Gives Turkey Perfect Election Fodder"
published on ''Spiegel Online''. Accessed 13-3-2017.

Columnists

References

External links

Official website
{{in lang, tr 2010 establishments in Turkey Newspapers published in Istanbul Publications established in 2010 Turkish-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in Turkey