Can Dündar (, born 16 June 1961) is a Turkish journalist, columnist and documentarian.

Editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of center-left ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pr ...

'' newspaper until August 2016, he was arrested in November 2015 after his newspaper published footage showing the State Intelligence MİT sending weapons to Syrian Islamist fighters. One of the "best known" figures in Turkish media, Dündar has written for several newspapers, produced many television programs for state-owned

TRT The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish : ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio provider in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio i ...

and various private channels including

CNN Türk CNN Türk is a Turkish pay television news channel, launched on 11 October 1999 as the localised variant of American channel CNN. It broadcasts exclusively for Turkey and it is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Demirören Group. Its headquarte ...

and

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

, and published more than 20 books. Dündar is the recipient of the International Press Freedom Award by the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of jou ...

. In 2016, Can Dündar, together with Erdem Gül, were awarded the Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media, by the Leipzig Media Foundation, lead partner of the

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is a non-profit organisation that promotes, protects and defends the right to a free media and freedom of expression throughout Europe. It was founded in 2015 as a watchdog of the European ...

. Since June 2016, he has lived in exile in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, with an arrest warrant against him in Turkey. Currently he is editor-in-chief of #ÖZGÜRÜZ, a web radio station run by the nonprofit newsroom CORRECTIV. He is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

Early life and education

Dündar studied journalism at the

Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest faculty of social science in Turkey, being the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ( ...

, and graduated in 1982. He continued his education at the

London School of Journalism The London School of Journalism (LSJ) is an independent journalism school based in London, England, which offers qualifications in journalism, freelance journalism and creative writing. The LSJ provides both on-site and distance learning to it ...

in 1986. He received his master's degree in 1988 and in 1996 earned his PhD in political science from the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering ...

, Ankara. Dündar's family is of paternal Circassian and maternal Albanian origin.

Publishing career

Dündar has contributed to various print publications, including ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' (1983–1985), '' Nokta'', ''Haftaya Bakış, Söz'' and ''Tempo''. From October 1996 to June 1998 he moderated his own TV-Show 40 Dakika (Turkish) where he discussed current themes in Turkey. It got aired weekly on ''

Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Albayrak Holding since 2018, acquired from Sadık Albayrak which in turn seized from Ciner Media Group after Turgay Ciner was forced to sell due to tax debts. The channel replaces Cin ...

'' with Erbil Tuşalp and Celal Kazdağlı as the editors-in-chief. He wrote for ''

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

'' from January 1999 to April 2000 and ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

'' from January 2000. On television, he has been involved in ''Yanki'' (1979–83) and '' 32. Gün'' (1989–95) among others, including Neden? (2009). His work often "traces Turkey’s evolution into a modern nation and provides historical and political detail regarding crucial events, debates, and conflicts." This includes profiles of historical and political figures such as

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three time ...

Nâzım Hikmet Mehmed Nâzım Ran (15 January 1902 – 3 June 1963), Note: 403 Forbidden error received 10 October 2022. commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet (), was a Turkish-Polish poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and memoirist. He was ...

and

Vehbi Koç Ahmet Vehbi Koç (20 July 1901 – 25 February 1996) was a Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Koç Group, one of Turkey’s largest groups of companies. During his lifetime he came to be one of Turkey's wealthiest citiz ...

. His screenplay for the 2008 film ''

Mustafa Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

'' depicted the founder of the Republic of Turkey as a regular man with fears, passions and human expectations, rather than a life-size hero.

Conflict with the government and 2015 arrest

A longstanding columnist for ''

'', Dündar was laid off in August 2013 for "writing too sharply" about the Gezi protests and the developments in Egypt, as the paper's owner Erdoğan Demirören put it. Dündar recalled: "It was said to me, ‘We do not wish to see stories that will displease the prime minister in this paper. Everything displeases them, and after they are displeased, they go after us’." Subsequently, he turned to the center-left ''

'', and on 8 February 2015 became the newspaper's new

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. In November, ''Cumhuriyet'' was awarded the 2015

Reporters Without Borders Prize Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as fou ...

for its "independent and courageous journalism." Shortly thereafter, Dündar and ''Cumhuriyets Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül were arrested on charges of being members of a terror organization, espionage and revealing confidential documents, facing sentences of up to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

under the Anti-Terror Law of Turkey. The investigations had been launched in May, after the newspaper published photos depicting weapons transferred to Syria in trucks of the

National Intelligence Organization The National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the state intelligence agency of Turkey. Established in 1965 to replace National Security Service, its aim is to gather information about the current and po ...

, subject of the MİT trucks scandal. In June 2015, Turkish President Erdoğan had publicly targeted Dündar, stating: "The individual who reported this as an exclusive story will pay a heavy price for this." In prison, Dündar was denied colored pencils to draw with but made his own paint by pressing fruit in his cell, refusing the ban on color and smuggling his paintings out of prison because he "wanted to prove that color can exist even in the darkest of places." After 92 days in prison, Dündar and Gül were released on 26 February 2016 after the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

decided that their detention was an "undue deprivation of liberty".

Assassination attempt, jail sentence and exile

On 6 May 2016, there was an assassination attempt witnessed by multiple reporters in front of the Istanbul courthouse where Dündar had just been defending himself against charges of treason. The assailant was stopped by Dündar's wife and a member of parliament, Muharrem Erkek, before he could fire more than two shots. Dündar was unhurt, but another journalist suffered an injury in the leg. The assailant was taken into custody by undercover police. On the same day, Dündar was sentenced to imprisonment for five years and 10 months for ″leaking secret information of the state″. Dündar moved to Germany in June 2016. In August 2016, he stepped down from his position of editor-in-chief in ''Cumhuriyet'' and announced that he would continue as a columnist in the newspaper. An arrest warrant ''in absentia'' was issued in Turkey for him on 31 October 2016. On 23 December 2020, he was sentenced in absentia to 27 years and six months in prison for espionage and aiding an armed terrorist organisation.

Private life

He is married to Dilek Dündar, and the couple have one child. His father allegedly worked for the

. He lives in Berlin, Germany. He was attacked many times because of anti-government news by Turks living in Berlin.

Awards and honors

*2016

CPJ International Press Freedom Awards The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by ...

*2016

Oxfam Novib/PEN Award Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression is a literary award made in collaboration with PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, the PEN Emergency Fund, and Oxfam Novib (the Dutch affiliate of the international Oxfam organization). ...

*2017 Best European Journalist of the Year,

Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX ...

Documentaries

*''Demirkırat'' (1991), *''12 Mart'' (March 12)(1994), *''Cumhuriyetin Kraliçeleri'' (The Queens of the Republic) (1992), *''Sarı Zeybek'' (The Yellow londZeybek) (1993), ''Gölgedekiler'' (The ones in the shadow)(1994–1995), *''Yükselen Bir Deniz'' (The Rising Sea)(1998), *''İsmet Paşa'' (1999), *''Devlet Tiyatroları'' (Government theaters)(1999), *''Köy Enstitüleri'' (Village Institutes) (2000), *''Halef'' (The Successor) (2003), *''Nazım Hikmet'' (2002), *''Bir Yaşam İksiri'' (A life potion) (2003), *''Yüzyılın Aşkları'' (Loves of the century)(2004), *''Karaoğlan'' (Black boy)(2004), *''Garip: Neset Ertas Belgeseli'' (Strange: The Neset Ertas Documentary)(2005), *''

'' (2008) *''Delikanlım İyi Bak Yıldızlara'' (2012)

Books

*''Hayata ve Siyasete Dair'' (About Life and Politics)), *''Yağmurdan Sonra'' (After the Rain), *''Ergenekon''. The first book on

Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

. *''Yarim Haziran'' (My Love June), *''Benım Gençliğim'' (My youth), *''Köy Enstitüleri'' (Village Institutions), *''Yaveri Atatürk'ü Anlatıyor'' (Atatürk's assistant talks about him), *''Nereye?'' (Where to?), *''Uzaklar'' (Far away places), *''Yükselen Deniz'' (Rising Sea), *''Savaşta Ne Yaptın Baba?'' (What did you do in the war, father?), *''Büyülü Fener'' (Magic Lantern), *''Bir Yaşam İksiri'' (A life potion), *''Mustafa Kemal Aramızda'' (Mustafa Kemal is Among Us), *''Yıldızlar'' (The stars), *''Demirkırat'', *'' Sarı Zeybek'' (Yellow zeybek), *''Gölgedekiler'' (The ones in the shadow) *''İlk Türk Hititologu: Sedat Alp'', (First Turkish hittitologue:

Sedat Alp Prof. Ord. Sedat Alp (January 1, 1913 in Veroia – October 9, 2006 in Ankara) was the first Turkish archaeologist, historian and academic with a specialization in Hittitology, and was among the foremost names in the field. He was the president ...

) *''Kırmızı Bisiklet'' (Red bike), *''Nazım'', *''Karaoğlan'' (Black boy), *''Vehbi Koç'', *''İsmet Paşa'', *''Yüzyılın Aşkları'' (The loves of the century), *''Yakamdaki Yüzler'' (The faces on my collar), *''Ben Böyle Veda Etmeliyim'' (I should say goodbye like that), *'' Tutuklandık'' (We got arrested).

References

External links

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundar, Can 1961 births Living people People from Ankara TED Ankara College Foundation Schools alumni Ankara University alumni Middle East Technical University alumni Alumni of the London School of Journalism Turkish journalists Turkish columnists Milliyet people Mass media freedom in Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan controversies Turkish exiles