''Sabah'' is a Turkish
daily newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
, with a circulation of around 330,000 as of 2011. Its name means "morning" in
Turkish.
The newspaper was founded in İzmir by
Dinç Bilgin on 22 April 1985.
In 2007, the government of Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
seized the newspaper, citing a legal document that had not been disclosed to authorities when ''Sabah'' was sold in 2001. Ownership of the newspaper was given to the
Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey. Some of the newspaper's staffers were fired, and the paper was then sold to the
Turkuvaz Media Group belonging to
Çalık Holding
Çalık Holding is a Turkish company that has been operating in the energy, construction, mining, textile, and finance sectors since the 1980s. Founder and chairman Ahmet Çalık began his business career in the textile industry, founding Orta D ...
whose CEO,
Berat Albayrak
Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2015 to 2018 and as the minister of treasury and finance from 2018 to 2020. In the general elections ...
, is the son-in-law of ErdoÄŸan and whose chairman,
Ahmet Çalık, has been described as a "close associate" of Erdoğan. The $1.1bn sale aroused substantial controversy in Turkey, not least because it was partially financed by $750m of loans from two state banks,
VakıfBank and
Halkbank
Halkbank () is a Turkish bank, first incorporated in 1933 as a Public bank, state-owned bank. After growing throughout much of the twentieth century, it began absorbing smaller-sized state banks around the turn of the millennium. Halkbank is now ...
, and was sold for the minimum price, with Çalık Holding the sole bidder.
[Reuters, 12 January 2008]
Turkey eyes reform of media ownership law -paper
/ref> Before the 2007 seizing, it was a pro-Kemalist
Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. Ne ...
, liberal newspaper with its political position being close to centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
.
According to Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, who was ''Sabah'' Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
bureau chief until the takeover, from then on the newspaper took on "an unwavering pro-government line."
The Kalyon Group took over the newspaper in 2013.
Kalyon Group is the current publisher, while Erdal Åžafak is the editor-in-chief.
''Sabah'' published ''The New York Times International Weekly
''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from ...
'' on Sundays from 2009 to 2014. This 8-page supplement featured a selection of articles from ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' translated into Turkish. The partnership with ''The New York Times'' was terminated in 2014 without any formal explanation given.
Notable contributors (past and present)
* Engin Ardıç (1952–2023), journalist
* (born 1955), journalist
* (1942–2023), columnist
* Mehmet Ali Birand (1941–2013), journalist
* (born 1942), journalist
* Salih Memecan (born 1952), cartoonist
* Hıncal Uluç (1939–2022), journalist
* Didem Ünsal (born 1966), journalist
* Ahmet Vardar (1937–2010), journalist
References
External links
*
Sabah Europe
Sabah Deutsch
The newspaper's web site
*https://twitter.com/asliaydintasbas
*
Turkish-language newspapers
Newspapers established in 1985
Newspapers published in Istanbul
1985 establishments in Turkey
Daily newspapers published in Turkey
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