Ceylan Yeğinsu (born 14 February 1986) is a Turkish-British journalist and currently a staff reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Early life and background

Yeğinsu was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and is bi-lingual in English and Turkish. She was educated at

Woldingham School Woldingham School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent Boarding school, boarding and day school for girls, located in the former Marden Park of outside the village of Woldingham, Surrey, in South East England. It is a Roman ...

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, and the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. Her brother is the international lawyer and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Prof.

Can Yeğinsu Vedat Can Yeğinsu (born 12 November 1980) is an English barrister and arbitrator who practises from 3 Verulam Buildings Chambers in London and specialises in commercial law, international arbitration, human rights, and international law. He is al ...

Career

Yeğinsu began her journalism career in 2008 as a reporter and editor for Hurriyet Daily News, where she covered politics, culture, business and sport. She also ran a weekly column on issues of

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

in Turkey. In 2011, she received a master's degree in Digital Media at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

and was awarded the ''Brigid O'Hara-Forster Fellowship''. As a freelance reporter and multimedia journalist in New York and Istanbul, she worked for publications including ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'', ''

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and ...

''. In 2013, Yeğinsu joined the ' Istanbul Bureau. In September 2014, she ran a front-page story on

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

's recruitment of Turks in the Hacıbayram neighborhood of

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. Her report was heavily criticized by President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

, who called the story "shameless, ignoble, treason." Yeğinsu was subsequently attacked by the newspaper ''

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

'' and other pro-government media, and received multiple death threats. The resulting intimidation campaign against Yeğinsu forced her to temporarily leave the country. The directors of

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 ...

, Article 19 and the

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...

published an open letter, reminding President Erdoğan of journalists significant role in a democracy and their protection in both Turkish and international law. The

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the 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 ...

criticized Turkey for these attempts of intimidation and threat. Yeğinsu has since worked in the London bureau as an international correspondent and in 2020 joined the travel desk as a staff reporter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeginsu, Ceylan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Turkish women journalists Turkish women's rights activists Mass media freedom in Turkey 2015 controversies Controversies in Turkey Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni The New York Times journalists People educated at Rugby School