''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the

Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, ...

in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulation since November 15, 2007. On July 27, 2016, the newspaper was closed under a statutory decree during the state of emergency after the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...

, due to its links with the coup plotters'

Gülen movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...

Overview

''Taraf'' has published a series of highly-controversial stories that revealed the involvement of the Turkish military in daily political affairs. The revealed documents, such as coup plans that involved the bombing of historical mosques in Turkey ( "Sledgehammer" coup plan) and bombing of a museum ( Operation Cage Action Plan), significantly damaged the social image of the Turkish military. The sources that leaked such critical insider information to ''Taraf'' are still unknown. The response of the Turkish military to ''Taraf'' included canceling the newspaper's accreditation from press releases at its headquarters. A political journal, '' Nokta'', had similarly published leaked military information ( Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven) and was closed down in 2007 due to pressure. The founder and owner of ''Taraf'', Başar Arslan, dismisses accusations of bias and outside funding, saying that he has made a considerable loss in his mission to create what he calls the country's most prestigious newspaper. He considers ''Taraf'' an investment that will eventually pay off. Some prominent names of ''Taraf'', such as reporter Mehmet Baransu, columnist Emre (Emrullah) Uslu, and former columnist Önder Aytaç are known for their affiliation with the

, although it has been denied that they act as quasi-official representatives of the movement. ''Taraf'' also served the interests of the Gülen movement in other ways, including silencing the allegations of cheating in compulsory public servants’ examinations in Turkey.

History

In 2011 ''Taraf'' became the first Turkish partner of the whistle-blowing website

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

, joining internationally known publications in signing a contract to publish the site's leaked documents firsthand. The Turkish daily was picked by WikiLeaks because it is "the bravest newspaper in Turkey", as described by the site's founder,

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

. On 14 December 2012, founding editor-in-chief Ahmet Altan, his assistant editor Yasemin Çongar, columnists Murat Belge and Neşe Düzel stepped down from their posts at the newspaper. The next day, columnist Hadi Uluengin followed the leaving group of journalists. Owner of the daily, Başar Arslan stated that the resignations resulted from difference of opinion that developed in recent times, and nevertheless, the newspaper will continue to be published.

Columnists

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taraf Newspapers published in Istanbul Turkish-language newspapers Newspapers established in 2007 2007 establishments in Turkey Mass media shut down in the 2016 Turkish purges Defunct newspapers published in Turkey 2016 disestablishments in Turkey Publications disestablished in 2016 Daily newspapers published in Turkey Companies formerly affiliated with the Gülen movement Companies in the BIST 100