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Can Dündar (, born 16 June 1961) is a Turkish journalist, columnist and
documentarian A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill N ...
.
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 editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
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 Press ...
'' 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 and various private channels including
CNN Türk Cable News Network Türk (known as CNN Türk) is a Turkish free-to-air television news channel, launched on 11 October 1999 as the local affiliate of American channel CNN. It broadcasts exclusively for Turkey and it is owned by Demirören Grou ...
and NTV, 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 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
. In 2016, Dündar and 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, 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; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
.


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 (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...
, and graduated in 1982. He continued his education at the London School of Journalism 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 language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...
, 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 a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...
'' (1983–1985), '' Nokta'', ''Haftaya Bakış, Söz'' and ''Tempo''. From October 1996 to June 1998 he moderated his own television show '' 40 Dakika'' (Turkish), where he discussed current themes in Turkey. It was aired weekly on ''
Show TV Show TV is a Turkish free-to-air national television channel, established in 1991 by Erol Aksoy, Dinç Bilgin, Haldun Simavi and Erol Simavi, owned by the Can Holding. History The channel replaces Cine5's now-defunct frequencies, and it was ...
'' with Erbil Tuşalp and Celal Kazdağlı as the editors-in-chief. He wrote for ''
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
'' from January 1999 to April 2000 and ''
Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a 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 May 1950 ...
'' 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 ( 1881 â€“ 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
,
İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...
,
Nâzım Hikmet Mehmed Nâzım Ran (17 January 1902 â€“ 3 June 1963), Note: 403 Forbidden error received 10 October 2022. commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet (), was a Turkish people, Turkish poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and memoirist. ...
and Vehbi Koç. His screenplay for the 2008 film '' Mustafa'' 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 ''
Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a 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 May 1950 ...
'', 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 ''
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 Press ...
'', 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 editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
. In November, ''Cumhuriyet'' was awarded the 2015 Reporters Without Borders Prize 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 (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
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 loction 39°54'25.0"N 32°39'59.3"E The National Intelligence Organization (), also known by its Turkish language, Turkish initials MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization (), is an intelligence agency of the Turkish government tasked ...
, which became known as 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 given to him 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 ( Turkish: ''Anayasa Mahkemesi'', 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 law ...
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 the armed terrorist organisation .


Private life

He is married to Dilek Dündar, and the couple have one child. His father allegedly worked for the
National Intelligence Organization loction 39°54'25.0"N 32°39'59.3"E The National Intelligence Organization (), also known by its Turkish language, Turkish initials MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization (), is an intelligence agency of the Turkish government tasked ...
. 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 *2016 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award *2017 Best European Journalist of the Year,
Prix Europa PRIX EUROPA â€“ The European Broadcasting Festival â€“ is Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX EUROPA awards the best European Televisi ...


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), *'' Mustafa'' (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. *''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 presiden ...
) *''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).


See also

* List of arrested journalists in Turkey


References


External links


Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundar, Can 1961 births Living people Journalists from Ankara TED Ankara College Foundation Schools alumni Ankara University alumni Middle East Technical University alumni Alumni of the London School of Journalism 21st-century Turkish journalists Turkish columnists Milliyet people Mass media freedom in Turkey Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan controversies Turkish exiles