Yeni Akit

Yeni Akit (Turkish: New Agreement) is an Islamic-conservative Turkish daily newspaper. According to a report published by the Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the top three Turkish newspapers featuring hate speech.[2][3] Yeni Akit is an avid supporter of the AKP and has close ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[4][5][6]

Yeni Akit
TypeDaily newspaper
Founded1993 (as Akit)
2001 (as Anadolu'da Vakit)
2010 (as Yeni Akit)
Political alignmentSocial conservatism
Erdoğanism
LanguageTurkish
HeadquartersIstanbul, Turkey
Circulation55,681 (May 2018)[1]
Websitewww.yeniakit.com.tr

History

The newspaper was founded in 2010 as a successor to Anadolu'da Vakit (2001-2010), but later took on the name Vakit. The original Vakit had been sued for defamation by 312 generals for a 2003 editorial written by columnist Asım Yenihaber which criticised the military. Vakit lost the case, and was ordered to pay TL1.8m in 2010.[7] Columnist Abdurrahman Dilipak had his house forcibly sold in 2009 to pay damages relating to a 2000 article.[8]

Controversies

Role in Turkish Council of State shooting

Vakit had been charged with encouraging the 2006 Turkish Council of State shooting of a judge, which was notionally a protest against a decision blocking the appointment of a teacher wearing a headscarf as principal of a nursery school. Several months earlier, Vakit had produced a front-page headline, ‘Here are those members’, accompanied by the photographs and identities of the chief judge and three members of the 2nd Chamber of the Turkish Council of State responsible for the decision.[9]

Hate Speech

Yeni Akit is known for featuring opposite ideas against Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Yazidis, Gülenists, Alevis, atheists, LGBT, secularists, freemasons, socialists, communists, pan-Turkists, Kemalists, Grey Wolves, and feminists, among others, on a daily basis.[10][11][12]

Anti-semitism

In May 2014, Yeni Akit sought to blame Jews in the country's recent Soma coal mine disaster that left over 300 dead. The newspaper criticized the mine's owner for having a Jewish son-in-law and "Zionist-dominated media" for distorting the story.[13][14]

In September 2014, Yeni Akit columnist Faruk Cose called for Turkish Jews to be taxed to pay for reconstructing buildings damaged in Gaza during Israel's Operation Protective Edge.[15]

In July 2014, the newspaper used a picture of Adolf Hitler as the centerpiece for its daily word game, and the phrase "We long for you" [Seni arıyoruz] as the answer to the puzzle.[16]

Anti-LGBT

In January 2012, Yeni Akit was fined by the Turkish High Court of Appeals over comments published in 2008 describing gay people as "perverts."[17]

In the aftermath of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviants" or "perverted",[18] which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.[19]

Censoring of women

The newspaper censors images of women in both their print and online edition by blurring all uncovered skin.[20][21] In some cases, women in the image are completely blurred out.[22]

Targeting of journalists

In July 2012, over 200 prominent people signed a criminal complaint against Yeni Akit over its attacks on Armenian-origin journalist Ali Bayramoğlu.[23]

In August, the newspaper accused Cengiz Çandar and Hasan Cemal of supporting the PKK.[24]

In December 2012, Yeni Akit published a list of 60 journalists who, it claimed, supported the PKK, and called the journalists "terrorists and criminals".[25]

Support of bin Laden

Following his death in May 2011, Yeni Akit published a full page condolence in honor of Osama bin Laden.[26]

Denial of Sivas Massacre

Yeni Akit published a front-page story on 23 July 2012 declaring the Sivas massacre a "19 Year Lie", claiming the victims had been killed by gunshots rather than fire on the basis of morgue photos it claimed were previously unpublished. The claims were rapidly disproven, and strongly condemned by many.[27][28]

Conviction of columnist for sexually abusing a minor

In September 2009, Vakit newspaper columnist 78-year-old Hüseyin Üzmez was convicted for sexually abusing a minor and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.[29] Hüseyin Üzmez and the newspaper denied the allegations and insisted this was a conspiracy.

Disinformation during Gezi Protests

During the Gezi Park protests in Turkey, Yeni Akit published many disinformative articles.

On 5 June Mustafa Durdu, a columnist at the newspaper, claimed that protestors may even have performed group sex inside Dolmabahçe Mosque.[30]

On 13 June, Yeni Akit claimed that prostitution and group sex was common at Gezi park after 2 am. They based this claim on an "anonymous journalist who saw this happening with his own eyes and told it to someone else".[31]

On 15 June, the newspaper accused supermarket chain Migros of delivering free supplies to the protestors at Gezi park.[32] However, goods delivered to the park were bought by protestors through the supermarket's online store.

On 24 August, Yeni Akit claimed that Gezi protestors were preparing for a "big provocation" during the August 30 Victory Day celebrations.[33]

Orlando nightclub shooting

Following the Orlando nightclub shooting, the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviant" or "perverted,"[34] which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.[35]

2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident

During the 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident, Yeni Akit wrote a suggestive article which noted that while there were "400,000 Turks living in the Netherlands," the Dutch army "has 48,000 soldiers."[36]

Columnists
  • Abdullah Büyük
  • Abdurrahman Dilipak
  • Ali İhsan Karahasanoğlu
  • Asım Yenihaber
  • Hasan Aksay
  • Hasan Karakaya
  • Kenan Alpay
  • Merve Kavakçı
  • Şevki Yılmaz
  • Yavuz Bahadıroğlu
  • Abdullah Şanlıdağ
  • Abdullah Yıldız
  • Ahmet Gülümseyen
  • Ahmet Varol
  • Ali Erkan Kavaklı
  • Atilla Özdür
  • Ayhan Demir
  • Bedrettin Engin Soganci
  • Burak Karen
  • Ersoy Dede
  • Faruk Köse
  • Hacı Yakışıklı
  • Hüseyin Öztürk
  • İbrahim Bektaş
  • Kıvanç Tığlı
  • Latif Erdoğan
  • Mehmet Ali Tekin
  • Mehmet Doğan
  • Mehmet Emin Gerger
  • Mehmet Koçak
  • Mehtap Yılmaz
  • Mesut Bıyık
  • Muhsin Meriç
  • Mustafa Çelik
  • Mustafa Özcan
  • Nusret Çiçek
  • Osman Atalay
  • Prof. Dr. Namık Açıkgöz
  • Serdar Demirel
  • Yaşar Değirmenci
  • Yener Dönmez
  • Merve Kavakçı

References
  1. Gazete Tirajları
  2. "Study reveals increasing hate speech in Turkish press". Al Monitor. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  3. "Hate speech on the rise in Turkish media". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. "Shameful Anti-Semitism From Yeni Akit Newspaper". Aydınlık Daily. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. "Columnist at Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper Calls for Taxing Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. "Erdogan calls Israel more barbaric than Hitler, but defends Turkish Jews". JTA. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. Daily Vakit to pay damages to 312 generals Hurriyet Daily News, 8 May 2010.
  8. Vakit columnist's house sold over Feb. 28 column Today's Zaman, 20 August 2009.
  9. İbrahim Efe, Murat Yeşiltaş (2012), "Representations of the Ergenekon Case in Turkey, 2007–11: Today's Zaman and Hürriyet Daily News", Middle East Critique, Vol. 21, Iss. 2, 2012
  10. "Jews, Armenians main targets of hate speech". Hurriyer Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  11. "Othering Through Hate Speech: The Turkish-Islamist (V)AKIT Newspaper as a Case Study". Academia. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  12. "Reaction grows over daily's hate speech". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  13. "Conservative daily stirs outrage over anti-Semitic headline after Turkey's Soma disaster". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  14. "Jews Implicated by Pro-Erdoğan Turkish Newspaper for Coal Mine Disaster". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  15. "Columnist at Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper Calls for Taxing Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  16. "Yeni Akit'ten Hitler göndermeli ırkçı bulmaca: Seni arıyoruz". Diken. 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  17. Calling gay people 'perverts' an insult, top court says Hurriyet Daily News, 9 January 2012.
  18. "The world reacts to the mass shooting in Orlando". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  19. "'Fifty perverts killed': Turkish newspaper sparks outrage with offensive headline about Orlando nightclub shooting". Inquisitr. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  20. http://www.gazetecell.com/medya/akit-atletlerimizi-boyle-sansurledi-h7289.html
  21. "Yeni Akit, TBMM'de CHP'li Melda Onur'un Genel Kurul kürsüsüne çıktığı tişörte sansür uyguladı". odatv.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  22. "Yeni Akit'ten inanılmaz sansür! Amerikalı kadınlar 'buzlandı'". MedyaRadar.com. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  23. Reaction grows over daily's hate speechHurriyet Daily News, 5 July 2012.
  24. Columnist fired for defending journalists targeted by Yeni Akit Today's Zaman, 31 August 2012.
  25. Committee to Protect Journalists, 26 December 2012, Turkish journalist attacked amid smear campaign on press
  26. "Akit'te Bin Ladin için taziye ilanı". Sol. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  27. Today's Zaman, 23 July 2012, Sivas massacre victims died of gunshots, not fire, daily claims
  28. The Sivas Massacre is a ‘19 year lie’: Yeni Akit, 27 July 2012
  29. "Üzmez sentenced to 13 years". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  30. BUNLAR CIA’nın ÇOCUKLARI - Mustafa Durdu
  31. "Kendi Gözlerimle Gördüm"
  32. Eylemcileri Migros Besliyor
  33. Geziciler 30 Ağustos’ta Provokasyona Hazırlanıyor
  34. "The world reacts to the mass shooting in Orlando". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  35. "'Fifty perverts killed': Turkish newspaper sparks outrage with offensive headline about Orlando nightclub shooting". Inquisitr. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  36. "Netherlands Dispute Gives Turkey Perfect Election Fodder" published on Spiegel Online. Accessed 13-3-2017.
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