''Yeni Ülke'' (''New Land'') was a Turkish pro-Kurdish newspaper. It was founded in October 1990 as a weekly newspaper, and in 1993 merged with the daily ''

Özgür Gündem ''Özgür Gündem'' (Turkish language, Turkish for "Free Agenda") was an Istanbul-based daily Turkish language newspaper, mainly read by Kurds. Launched in May 1992, the newspaper was known for its extensive reporting on the Kurdish-Turkish confl ...

''. The motivation for the establishment for the newspaper came mainly from the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK) and PKK members wrote several columns and articles for the newspaper. The newspaper was soon popular and had a wide readership, which reportedly reached 50'000. In 1992/3 a number of its contributors (included

Musa Anter Musa Anter (1920 – 20 September 1992), also known as "Apê Musa" (, literally "Uncle Musa"), was a Kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual. Anter was assassinated by Turkish JITEM in September 1992. Early life and education He was born i ...

, assassinated September 1992) were assassinated. On 24 February 1992 ''Yeni Ülke'' journalist

Cengiz Altun Cengiz is the Turkish form of Genghis, as in Genghis Khan. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Cengiz Aktar (born 1955), Turkish political scientist, journalist and writer * Cengiz Bektaş (1934–2020), Turkish architect, engine ...

was assassinated. He had previously received death threats, and had written an article on the Counterguerrilla in the 2–8 February issue. ''Yeni Ülke'' Mecit Akgün was found hanged to an electric pole on 2 June, by PKK according to a note left on the scene. Journalist Yahya Orhan, who wrote for ''

'' and ''Yeni Ülke'', was assassinated on 31 July 1992. Kemal Kılıç, a former correspondent for ''

'' then writing for ''Yeni Ülke'', was assassinated on 18 February 1993. Some of these assassinations were later mentioned in the 1998 Prime Ministry report into the

Susurluk scandal The Susurluk scandal () or Susurluk accident (), was a 1996 political scandal in Turkey that exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary Grey Wolves (organization), Grey Wolves organization an ...

, in a censored section later leaked to the press. In 1999 the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

overturned a conviction under Article 312 relating to a July 1991 article published in ''Yeni Ülke''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:yeniulke Turkish-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1990 1990 establishments in Turkey 1993 disestablishments in Turkey Defunct newspapers published in Turkey Publications disestablished in 1993 Mass media freedom in Turkey Newspapers published in Istanbul

See also

References