Turkey Government and Media Profile

Turkey Political Orientation

Government

Government Type: Presidential Republic
Leader: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Political Party: Justice and Development Party, the A.K.P.
Political Position: Populism, Islamic Conservative

Press Freedom

MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: 32.99 – Limited Freedom
World Press Freedom Rank: Turkey 165/180

According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey is “the world’s biggest jailer of professional journalists” outside of Iran and Russia.

Media Ownership and Government Analysis

The Government influences media through Basın İlan Kurumu (BİK) (The Press Bulletin Authority), which is not transparent and according to Reuters Institute, “The agency has the power to end the distribution of advertising to any newspaper as a sanction whenever it wants by claiming a violation of media ethics.” For example, the BIK has imposed restrictions regarding the distribution of advertisements to BirGün and Evrensel (opposition dailies critical of the current government).

Further, all the prominent daily newspapers are owned by corporations such as Demirören Group, which owns Milliyet, Hürriyet, Posta, and Vatan. The Albayrak Group is the owner of Daily Yeni Safak, and the Kalyon Group (Turkuvaz Medya) owns Sabah and Takvim dailies. These conglomerates also have construction, energy, and infrastructure business divisions that heavily depend upon the government for public contracts. This could lead to pro-corporate bias in support of the government.

Finally, the government has almost total control of the media resulting in censorship and propaganda, as evidenced by a new law passed by Turkey’s Parliament in October 2022 that ratified a law introducing jail terms for journalists and social media users who spread “fake news,” or disinformation. This new law ensures that the press and social media users will abide by the official government narrative.

Country Rating Methodology

Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check