''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'' combines entertainment value with news coverage. ''Hürriyet'' has regional offices in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Izmir,

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...

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and

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

, as well as a news network comprising 52 offices and 600 reporters in Turkey and abroad, all affiliated with

Doğan News Agency Doğan is both a masculine Turkish given name and a Turkish surname meaning ''Falcon''. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Doğan Abukay, Turkish experimental physicist and academic * Doğan Akhanlı (1957–2021) Turkish-German w ...

, which primarily serves newspapers and television channels that were previously under the management of

Doğan Media Group Doğan Media Group (''Doğan Yayın Holding A.Ş.'') was a Turkish media conglomerate, part of the Doğan Holding conglomerate. The company was established in 1997 to bring together Doğan's media properties. These include the '' Posta'', ''Hür ...

(Doğan Yayın Holding). ''Hürriyet'' is printed in six cities in Turkey and in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

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 ...

. , according to

Alexa Alexa may refer to: Technology *Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon * Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service * Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera People * Alexa (name), a given name a ...

, its website was the tenth most visited in Turkey, the second most visited of a newspaper and the fourth most visited news website. On 21 March 2018, Doğan Yayın Holding, the parent company of Hürriyet, was sold to

Demirören Holding Demiören is a Turkish word meaning ''iron braider'' and may refer to: Company * Demirören Group, a Turkish conglomerate Surname *Yıldırım Demirören Yıldırım Demirören (born 6 October 1964) is a Turkish businessman, former chair of ...

for approximately $1.2 billion. The Demirören Group is known for its pro-government stance.

History

''Hürriyet'' was founded by

Sedat Simavi Sedat Simavi (1896 – 11 December 1953) was a Turkish journalist, writer and film director. He established many newspapers and magazines. Biography Simavi was born in 1896. His grandfather and uncles served in different positions in the o ...

on 1 May 1948 with a staff of 48. Selling 50,000 in its first week, ''Hürriyet'' was Simavi's 59th and last publication. It is considered a high-circulation newspaper in Turkey. In 2018, Hurriyet was bought by

, owned by the Demirören family who are considered to be close to President Erdoğan.

Tax fine controversy

In February 2009, the newspaper received an 826.2 million TL (US$523 million) fine for tax evasion by Doğan Group/Petrol Ofisi. Following this, the

Istanbul Stock Exchange The Borsa İstanbul (abbreviated as BIST) is the sole exchange entity of Turkey combining the former Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) ( tr, İstanbul Menkul Kıymetler Borsası, IMKB), the Istanbul Gold Exchange ( tr, İstanbul Altın Borsası, İ ...

suspended Doğan Holding's shares, and Fitch downgraded ''Hürriyet'' to 'BB−'. Executives at the Doğan Group expressed the opinion that the tax fine was politically motivated "intimidation", caused by ''Hürriyet'' linking of Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

and his political party, AKP, to a charity scandal in Germany. In March 2009,

Jose Manuel Barroso Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galil ...

, president of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, expressed public concern about the fine, saying that it threatened "pluralism and freedom of the press."Dogan Hit by $2.5 Billion Tax Fine in Erdogan Feud
Seda Sezer and Ben Holland, ''Bloomberg'', September 8, 2009 In September 2009, Doğan Group was fined a record US$2.5 billion, related to alleged past tax irregularities. The September fine caused further expressions of public concern from the European Commission, as well as the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

.Turkish Premier Defends Media Tax Battle
Marc Champion, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', October 5, 2009 It also caused some critics and global investors to compare the fines to then-

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

's use of tax-evasion charges to bankrupt oil company

Yukos OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (russian: ОАО Нефтяна́я Компа́ния Ю́КОС, links=no, ) was an oil and gas company based in Moscow, Russia. Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkov ...

for allegedly political reasons. In an interview, Erdoğan denied this charge, calling it "very ugly" and "disrespectful" to both himself and Putin. image:Istanbul -Hürriyet- 2000 by RaBoe 01.jpg, Hürriyet headquarters in Güneşli, Istanbul image:Istanbul -Hürriyet- 2000 by RaBoe 02.jpg, Hürriyet headquarters in Güneşli, Istanbul

Notable people

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 newspaper ...

Fatih Altaylı Fatih Altaylı (born 20 September 1962) is a Turkish journalist, columnist, television presenter and media executive. Life He graduated from Galatasaray High School in Istanbul. Fatih Altaylı stepped into journalism at the newspaper ''Cumhuriye ...

* Feyza Algan * Yalçın Bayer * Burak Bekdil *

Orhan Boran Orhan Boran (30 June 1928 – 26 May 2012) was a Turkish radio and TV host and actor. He was also widely known for his laudable usage of the Turkish language. Early life Boran was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1928 as the son of Hikmet Bora ...

Ege Cansen Ege or EGE may refer to: People * Ege (given name), list of people with the given name * Ege (surname), list of people with the surname Places * Ege, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Mount Ege, in Antarctica Other uses * Eagle Coun ...

Bekir Coşkun Bekir Coşkun (1945 – 18 October 2020) was a Turkish journalist, writer and columnist for leading Turkish daily, ''Cumhuriyet''. He was a good friend of Emin Çölaşan, with whom he had worked in the newspaper ''Hürriyet'' before they were co ...

Emin Çölaşan Emin Çölaşan (born 14 March 1942) is a Turkish investigative journalist, whose daily column appeared in the mass-circulation newspaper, Istanbul-based ''Hürriyet'', for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007. Since 2007, he continues his column in ''S� ...

* Cengiz Çandar *

Latif Demirci Al-Latif (''Al-Laṭīf'' , also anglicized as ''Al-Lateef'') is one of the names of God in Islam, meaning "kind". Latif can also be a masculine given name, as short form of Abdul Latif, meaning "servant of the Gentle". Its feminine form is Latifa. ...

* Yalçın Doğan * Bülent Düzgit *

Oktay Ekşi Osman Oktay Ekşi (born 7 December 1932) is a Turkish journalist, author and politician. He has spent much of his career at the newspaper ''Hürriyet'', and was its Chief Columnist from 1974 to 1983 and from 1985 to 2010. A founding member and v ...

* Çetin Emeç * Ahmet Hakan *

Doğan Hızlan Doğan Hızlan, (born 1937 Istanbul) is a Turkish author. He graduated from Pertevniyal High School,then completed his bachelor's degree in Istanbul University Faculty of Law. Doğan Hızlan, whos first work was published in 1954, directed ...

* Özdemir İnce *

Halit Kıvanç Halit Mecit Kıvanç (18 February 1925 – 25 October 2022) was a Turkish television and radio presenter, humorist, sports journalist and writer. He was best known as a sports commentator. Early years Kıvanç was born in the Fatih district of ...

* Emre Kızılkaya * Şükrü Kızılot * Ercan Kumcu * Gary S. Lachman * Çetin Özek *

Ertuğrul Özkök Ertuğrul Özkök (born 8 April 1947) is a Turkish journalist and a daily columnist. Between 1990 and 2010, he was the editor-in-chief for ''Hürriyet'', a daily newspaper published in Turkish in Turkey and some European countries. Özkök is ...

* Güzin Sayar *

Erman Şener Erman Şener (9 August 1942 in Afyon, Turkey – 29 March 2002 in Istanbul) was a Turkish film critic, screenwriter, author, columnist, TV host and producer. Background Şener was born in Afyon, Turkey. After he graduated from primary school hi ...

* Tufan Türenç * Doğan Uluç * Cüneyt Ülsever * Sinem Vural

Golden Butterfly Awards

''Hürriyet'', along with

Pantene Pantene () is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1945 by Hoffmann-La Roche, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient. It was purchased by Procter & ...

, sponsors the annual Golden Butterfly Awards, in which its readers vote for nominees in the fields of Turkish television and music.

References

External links

*
Hürriyet USAHürriyet Corporate

Hürriyet news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurriyet 1948 establishments in Turkey Bağcılar Doğan Media Group Newspapers published in Istanbul Publications established in 1948 Turkish-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in Turkey