''Yeni Ülke'' (''New Land'') was a Turkish pro-Kurdish newspaper. It was founded in October 1990 as a weekly newspaper, and in 1993 merged with the daily ''

Özgür Gündem ''Özgür Gündem'' ( Turkish for "Free Agenda") was an Istanbul-based daily Turkish language newspaper, mainly read by Kurds. Launched in May 1992, the newspaper was known for its extensive reporting on the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and was reg ...

''. The motivation for the establishment for the newspaper came mainly from the

Kurdistan Workers' Party 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 ...

(PKK) and PKK members wrote several columns and articles for the newspaper. The newspaper was soon popular and had a wide readership, which reportedly reached 50'000. In 1992/3 a number of its contributors (included

Musa Anter Musa Anter (1920 – 20 September 1992), also known as "Apê Musa" ( ku, Apê Musa, literally "Uncle Musa"), was a Kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual and was assassinated by Turkish JITEM in September 1992. Early life and education He ...

, assassinated September 1992) were assassinated. On 24 February 1992 ''Yeni Ülke'' journalist Cengiz Altun was assassinated. He had previously received death threats, and had written an article on the Counterguerrilla in the 2–8 February issue. ''Yeni Ülke'' Mecit Akgün was found hanged to an electric pole on 2 June, by PKK according to a note left on the scene. Journalist Yahya Orhan, who wrote for ''

'' and ''Yeni Ülke'', was assassinated on 31 July 1992. Kemal Kılıç, a former correspondent for ''

'' then writing for ''Yeni Ülke'', was assassinated on 18 February 1993. Some of these assassinations were later mentioned in the 1998 Prime Ministry report into the

Susurluk scandal The Susurluk scandal () was a scandal involving the close relationship among the deep state in Turkey, the Grey Wolves and the Turkish mafia. It took place during the peak of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, in the mid-1990s. The relationshi ...

, in a censored section later leaked to the press. In 1999 the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

overturned a conviction under Article 312 relating to a July 1991 article published in ''Yeni Ülke''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:yeniulke Turkish-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1990 1990 establishments in Turkey 1993 disestablishments in Turkey Defunct newspapers published in Turkey Publications disestablished in 1993 Mass media freedom in Turkey Newspapers published in Istanbul

See also

References