Ekrem Dumanlı (born 1964) is a Turkish newspaper executive and, since 2001, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper '' Zaman''. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of its English-language version, ''

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

''. Dumanlı graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

and worked for a time as a teacher of literature. He has also held a teaching position at

Fatih University Fatih University ( tr, Fatih Üniversitesi) was a leading private (foundation) university located in the metropolitan Büyükçekmece district of Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1996, the university was closed by the Turkish government in July 2016 ...

in Istanbul. In 1993, he started working as a reporter for the Culture and Art Desk of ''Zaman''. He was later assigned as Culture and Art Desk editor and publication coordinator. In 1997, Dumanlı went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to further his studies in the media, completing his master's degree at Boston Emerson College. Returning to Turkey in 2001, Dumanlı was appointed editor-in-chief of ''Zaman''. His articles have also been published by the foreign press, including "The Turkey-U.S. Divide" by the Los Angeles Times. A play he wrote, titled ''The Last Trial'', was performed on stage. Dumanlı is a member of (''Media Association''), the

World Association of Newspapers The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations, and many individual newspaper ex ...

(WAN), the Türkiye Yazarlar Birliği (Turkish Writers Union), and the BJK Sports Club Congress. Dumanlı was listed in Georgetown University's list of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2009. he is a known member of the

Gulen Movement is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik. Other villages in Gulen include Brekke, Byrknes ...

2014 arrest and criticism of government

On 14 December 2014 Turkish police arrested more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives on charges of "forming, leading and being a member of an armed terrorist organization." Among those now detained was Dumanlı, who was serving as editor-in-chief of ''Zaman''. The arrested were people associated with the

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 ...

. The Turkish government accuses the movement of infiltrating the police and judiciary. Police arriving at 7.30 a.m. at the newspaper's office were greeted by scores of protesters shouting "a free media cannot be silenced." They had mounted a vigil after tweets from "" - a reliable but anonymous source - had warned of the raid. Police retreated only to reappear in the afternoon when Dumanlı gave himself up voluntarily. A statement by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

drawing attention to raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government", cautioned Turkey not to violate its "own democratic foundations". EU foreign affairs chief

Federica Mogherini Federica Mogherini (; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as I ...

and EU Enlargement Commissioner

Johannes Hahn Johannes Hahn (born 2 December 1957) is an Austrian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Budget and Administration under Ursula von der Leyen since 1 December 2019. He previously served as European Commissioner for European Ne ...

said that the arrests went "against European values" and "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy". On 19 December 2014 a court ordered that Dumanlı and seven others to be released due to lack of evidence. Thousands gathered outside Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul to show support for the detained journalists and police officials. While crowds celebrated the release of Dumanlı in the courtyard of the courthouse, they protested the arrest order for

Samanyolu TV Samanyolu TV was an international Turkish language TV station with its headquarters in Istanbul. Samanyolu TV was previously owned by Yayıncılık A.Ş. Yayıncılık A.Ş. is a media company that operates radio and television broadcasting, pub ...

General Manager Hidayet Karaca and former police chiefs Tufan Ergüder, Ertan Erçıktı and Mustafa Kılıçaslan. Ekrem Dumanlı wrote for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' about his arrest process and obstacles about

freedom of press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...

in Turkey, where he said "My newspaper, '' Zaman'', and I are just the latest victims of Erdoğan's

witch hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

", blaming

Turkish president The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national govern ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

for his arrest.

References

"The Turkey- U.S. Divide"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Los Angeles, 8 June 2005.
"The 500 Most Influential Muslims"
The Book Foundation, UK, 2009.
"Turkish figures rank high on list of world's most influential Muslims"
''

'', İstanbul, 21 November 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumanli, Ekrem Living people Gülen movement Businesspeople from Istanbul Journalists from Istanbul 1964 births Istanbul University alumni Journalists imprisoned in Turkey