Type Daily newspaper Language Turkish Circulation 53,977 (July 2013) | Founded 2010 Headquarters Istanbul, Turkey | |
Political alignment Islamism
Social conservatism | ||
Yeni Akit (Turkish: New Agreement) is a conservative and Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. According to a report published by Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the top three Turkish newspapers resorting to hate speech. Yeni Akit newspaper is an avid supporter of AKP and has close ties with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Contents
History
It 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. Columnist Abdurrahman Dilipak had his house forcibly sold in 2009 to pay damages relating to a 2000 article.
Hate Speech
Yeni Akit newspaper is known for resorting to hate speech against Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Yazidis, Alevis, atheists, LGBT, secularists, freemasons, socialists, communists, pan-Turkists, Kemalists, Grey Wolves, feminists on a daily basis. According to a report published by Hrant Dink Foundation, Yeni Akit is one of the top three Turkish newspapers resorting to hate speech. As of December 2014, Yeni Akit newspaper had a total number of 270 entries at nefretsoylemi.org, a site maintained by Hrant Dink Foundation, which monitors and reports hate speech at Turkish media.
Anti-semitism
In December 2014 Yeni Akit 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.
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.
In September 2014 Yeni Akit columnist Faruk Cose called for Turkey's Jews to be taxed to pay for reconstructing buildings damaged in Gaza during Israel's recent Operation Protective Edge.
Anti-LGBT
In January 2012, Yeni Akit was fined over comments published in 2008 describing gay people as "perverts".
In the aftermath of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviant" or "perverted", which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.
Targeting of judges
Vakit had also 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 photographs and identities of the chief judge and three members of the 2nd Chamber of the Turkish Council of State responsible for the decision.
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.
In August the newspaper accused Cengiz Çandar and Hasan Cemal of supporting the PKK.
In December 2012 Yeni Akit published a list of 60 journalists it claimed were "terrorists and criminals".
Support of al-Qaeda
In following his death in May 2011, Yeni Akit published a full page condolence in honor of Osama bin Laden.
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.
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 of prison. Hüseyin Üzmez and Vakit newspaper denied the allegations and insisted this was a conspiracy.
Disinformation during Gezi Protests
During the 2013–14 protests in Turkey Yeni Akit newspaper published many disinformative articles.
On 5 June Mustafa Durdu, a columnist of the Yeni Akit newspaper, claimed that protestors may even have performed group sex inside Dolmabahçe Mosque.
On 13 June Yeni Akit newspaper 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".
On 15 June Yeni Akit accused supermarket chain Migros of delivering free supplies to the protestors at Gezi park. However, goods delivered to the park were bought by protestors through supermarket's internet shop.
On 24 August Yeni Akit newspaper claimed that Gezi protestors were preparing for a big provocation on the August 30 Victory Day celebrations.
2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, the newspaper published a headline calling the victims "deviant" or "perverted", which in turn was criticized by foreign media outlets.
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".