Nokta

History and profile

The magazine was launched by Ercan Arıklı on 1 March 1982 as Nokta ve İnsanlar. It became Nokta in 1983. The magazine had a liberal and progressive stance during the Ercan Arıklı period and In 1989 it was the highest-circulation news weekly in Turkey, ahead of 2000'e Doğru.

In March 2007, Nokta ran a story, written by its Editor in Chief, Ahmet Alper Görmüş, revealing a confidential campaign of the military blacklisting some journalists and press organs, based on a leaked report prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff categorizing journalists as "trustworthy" (pro military) and "untrustworthy" (anti military). While the military acknowledged the existence of such a list, they declared that the version published by Nokta was "only a draft". The newspaper Sabah said that Nokta's report does not conform to the format used by the military.

Later that month, Nokta published excerpts of a diary, allegedly written by admiral Özden Örnek, a former navy commander. Following the publication, the magazines offices were raided by the police in a three-day operation. The diary detailed two plans for a military coup, both by the commanders of the army (Aytaç Yalman), navy (Özden Örnek) and the air force (İbrahim Fırtına), together with the gendarmerie chief (Şener Eruygur), and aiming to overthrow the AK Party government in 2004.

Subsequently, its owner, Ayhan Durgun, discontinued the publication. Görmüş joined the daily Taraf, where he criticized journalists who were aware of the diaries for not revealing them.

In 2007, the now-defunct weekly published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired admiral Özden Örnek, indicating that three coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), and Eldiven (glove). Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery. The Armed Forces has prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether. For his part, general Hurşit Tolon said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him. The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment.

The diary agrees with minutes of the meeting on which the diary was based. The minutes were found in the home of retired captain Muzaffer Yıldırım who, along with Tolon and Eruygur, was detained in the frame of an investigation into a conspiratorial organization named "Ergenekon". On this basis, it has been claimed that the diaries are authentic.

These excerpts were later cited as key evidence in the March 2009 indictment of a round of suspects, including retired generals Eruygur and Tolon, arrested in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged illegal Ergenekon organization and charged with plotting to overthrow the legal government of the Republic of Turkey.

2015 Revival

In 2015 Ramazan Köse revived the magazine.

Due to a satirical cover image critical of Recep Tayyip Erdogan for inciting and exploiting the conflict and its casualties for personal political PR purposes, the magazine was raided by the police and its 18. edition in September 2015 was banned and the entire circulation confiscated for allegedly "insulting" Erdogan. The two editors of Nokta are also indicted for the headline “Monday Nov. 2: The beginning of a civil war in Turkey” over a story on the November 2016 parliamentary elections in Turkey, in which Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) regained a majority in the national legislature. The prosecutors seek prison terms of 15 to 20 years.

The magazine was closed in July 2016.