Traditional Periodicals

Hurriyet Daily News: This newspaper is one of the most popular media source in Turkey. It is also the oldest current English-language daily in the region that was founded in 1961. The source covers wide sections including about Turkey, Economy, Opinion, World, Arts&Life, Sports, and Photo, created in a way that would appeal to the population with different interests. However, the media is biased towards right and primarily reports pro-government contents, which could manipulate the readers’ political views.

It is accessed at https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ and on Twitter @HDNER.

I chose this media because while it is widely accepted around the region, it also reflects the heavy control of media under the Turkish government and corporations that depend on the funds from the government. It is especially friendly to the readers from overseas for its coverage in English, but we readers have to be reminded that it is important to pay attention to the impacts of the government on the coverage and understand its position and perspective, as FOX News in the United States.

Yerepouni Daily News: This news source is based in Beirut, Lebanon, and it provides the coverage around the world for their Armenian communities that live in Lebanon and in diaspora. It can be accessed in three different languages—Armenian, Arabic, and English—but the website is mainly built for Armenian speaking populations, and it is clearly stated in About Us page that their aim is to inform Armenian people and not necessarily other communities. Nevertheless, the media covers a significant amount of news; it includes the sections for World News, Markets & Economy, International Press, Health, Social, Sports, Art & Entertainment, and Science & Technology. This media seems to be partnered with different sources and journalists around the world, which could indicate that the news are reported from multiple perspectives.

It is accessed at https://www.yerepouni-news.com/category/english/.

I chose this media because when I searched for News for Turkey on Middle East Newsstream, the most number of articles came from Yerepouni Daily News when excluding a currently inactive news source based in Turkey. With the media censorship in Turkey, it would balance out to gain a perspective outside of the domestic media.

Aksiyon Dergisi: This is a magazine published by an organization that oversees Zaman Newspaper, which is right-winged with some roots on Islamic aspect. The entire website is in Turkish, which makes the access from non-Turkish speakers/readers relatively hard. How often the website is updated is not clear as the articles on the website does not include the date of its publication. The individual writers/publishers are not shown either, which puts the reliability of this magazine questionable. However, the website is organized in a way that would appeal to the citizens with specific interests such as current news, technology, economy, health, and biography(entertainment?).

It is accessed at https://www.aksiyon.com.tr/.

I chose this source because I felt that magazines and newspapers differ in their coverage, and in order to gain a broader perspective, a magazine source can supplement the areas that are not as political. Even with its weaknesses, the website covers an extensive amount of information, which can be helpful in learning more about the country and current situation.

Anadolu Agency: This newspaper source covers an extensive amount of domestic and international news. The publisher is based in Ankara, Turkey, and the website allows the viewers to change language between 13 different languages including Turkish and English, which makes the contents friendly for the international audience. It is under the control of a right-winged party of the government, and therefore, the reports are mainly pro-government. The possibility of the media reporting on censored information that is skewed in pro-government perspective can change the political view of the audience. They publish news every day and is consistent on its coverage of political and foreign affair news.

It can be accessed at https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey.

I chose this media because on the Middle East Newsstream, one of the newspaper sources that cover the most about Turkey is this source. While it necessarily should not be the main and only news source to be informed about this country, it is helpful in getting to know the issues and a perspective on it.

“New Media”

Hedefの日記 in トルコ: This personal blog is written by a Japanese woman who lives in Istanbul with her three children and Turkish husband. The author is Hedef, and she describes her Turkish life in Japanese.

It can be accessed at https://ameblo.jp/kpgmq674.

I chose this source because I was looking for a regional, personalized perspective about Turkey from someone who is not Turkish. The author seems to update her blog every day, which helps the readers to get her personal news mainly on cultural and social aspects. While it may be weak on obtaining a balanced perspective, it is certainly one of the ways to gain information about the country.

BBC Monitoring Middle East: This website is published by BBC Worldwide Limited which is based in London and reports its content in English. They report and analyze the “news from media around the world” to better understand the media landscape in different countries. On top of reports, they update the briefing and news alerts periodically to inform the readers. It claims to be not biased, but since the reporting team is based in London and is tailored towards English-speaking community, the perspectives might be leaning towards primarily Western.

It is accessed at https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/region/mid-east-north-africa?preview=true.

I chose this source because I felt that a perspective coming from outside Turkey on its media contents is crucial in understanding Turkey. BBC is not only centered on Western perspective, but this specific organization is committed to critically analyze the media of other countries. This would be a good perspective to have in looking at information reported in Turkey knowing that government-run censorship is normalized in this country.

Bianet: This is another website that reports on daily news. The design of the website is rather simple compared to other websites that are raised above. On top of it being friendly to English speakers, I noticed that there are a lot less ads on page, which makes the website not as overwhelming. This is because it is owned by a specific organization that is not run by the state. The statement at the bottom of the page says that the website is run with the project implemented by “IPS Communication Foundation with the financial assistance of the Swedish International development Agency (SIDA),” which tells that the website is owned by an organization of another country. The content is still targeted towards the Turkish citizens and there are specific categories for “women and LGBT” and “Children” which can suggest that the website aims to be minority friendly as well.

It is accessed at https://bianet.org/english.

I chose this source because it is still a news source that reports on similar stuff as the periodicals and also not biased towards the government. I imagine that while the website would not be able to report on anti-government perspectives, it might still be one of the last resorts for the Turkish citizens to gain a more neutral perspective.

Social Media Sources

Enes Batur: This is a Turkish YouTuber who has gained his fame through vlogs that he uploaded on YouTube. He is the most subscribed person in Turkey with more than 15 million subscribers. Considering the fact that Turkey’s population is just under 85 million, it is a significant amount.

His contents can be accessed at https://youtube.com/user/newdaynewgame and on Twitter @enesbatur00 and on Instagram @enesbatur.

I chose his social media contents because YouTube is the most popular social media used by Turkish citizens. Since he is just a person living in Turkey, he does not have much of credibility, but he has some authority with how famous he is. There could be some perspectives gained from getting to know one of the most famous people in Turkey; he may have some voice and attention over the things happening in Turkey, too.

Gazete Duvar: Under the current pressure on media and their content imposed by the government, many Turkish citizens turn to social media for their news source. This is one of the smaller online news outlets that is hosted by different social media platforms in which the Turkish citizens hold more trust in the information reported. The contents are updated every day, and the articles are in Turkish.

It is accessed at https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/, on Twitter @gazeteduvar and on Instagram @gazeteduvar.com.tr and on YouTube at https://youtube.com/c/GazeteDuvar.

I chose this source because as stated above, some population of Turkish citizens have turned to social media in order to be informed on the current news instead of being vulnerable to the information presented under the government control. The access to such source is, in a sense, limited to the Turkish citizens because they have to be educated enough to seek for the better news outlet that reports from a perspective that is less influenced by the government.

Middle East Eye: Current issues and news happening in Turkey are reported as a part of the regional news from Middle East in various medias. Middle East Eye highlights current events and issues happening in the countries in the Middle East and North Africa. It claims itself to be of “independent coverage” that is coming from “independently funded digital news organization” which likely tells that it is not under the influence of a government. The posts and articles are translated into English to draw the audience from English-speaking communities, but their website is specifically accommodated for French users too. The headquarter of this organization is in London, but there are correspondent US teams in New York and Washington, and the French contents are monitored by a team based in Jerusalem.

It is accessed at https://www.middleeasteye.net/about-middle-east-eye, on Twitter and Instagram @MiddleEastEye and @middleeasteye.

I chose this source because of the attention it gets from the Western countries on its coverage of news in Middle East and North African countries. They pride themselves for their work referenced and acknowledged by numerous international organizations such as ICC, UN, and NATO, which tells that they cover the contents that are perceived to be accurate at least from the Western perspective.

Audio/Visual Sources

TRT World: This media source covers both television and radio media in Turkey. It is in English, and therefore it is more accessible for someone that lacks in Turkish language background. However, since it is run by the state, it is largely biased towards pro-government in their contents.

It can be accessed at https://www.trtworld.com/ and on Twitter @trtworld.

I chose this source because while it may be biased, it also covers social and cultural contents for the citizens, which could also be beneficial for the audience from foreign countries to understand Turkish events and activities.

Fox TV: According to Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2021, 54% of the population utilizes Fox TV to receive information and entertainment offline. The website is in Turkish, and the contents are updated regularly—a few times a day—to provide audio visual sources for the Turkish citizens. It is based in Turkey which started formerly as TGRT(Turkey Newspaper Radio Television).

It can be accessed at https://www.fox.com.tr/.

I chose this source because it is one of the most accessed media offline, and because it is free, it is accessed by people from different demographics to gain information.

Sözcü: This media outlet is available both online and offline, and it is seen as an independent outlet that is critical of the government compared to other medias. The website is in Turkish and is updated daily like Fox TV to provide information and entertainment that would suit different communities in Turkey.

It can be accessed at https://www.sozcu.com.tr/sozcutv/.

I chose this source because it is rare to have an access to a media outlet that is relatively critical of the government and yet owned by an organization in Turkey. This organization was only recently established in 2019, but it has started broadcasting its contents on YouTube, which is another most used social media in Turkey. The reputation that the organization is receiving tells us that it would be helpful to follow this media to gain more domestic critical perspective on government.

Data Sources

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: This data source is prominent on its wide coverage. On 12 different topics, the website provides many kinds of data. It is in English, and it is accessible for a person who needs an overlook of Turkey as a country. However, since it looks at the whole nation economically in comparison with other nations, it is difficult to look for regional and cultural aspects from this data source.

It can be accessed at https://data.oecd.org/turkey.htm.

I chose this source because it is a great starting point for someone who does not know well about where Turkey internationally stands and see different categories in numbers.

Turkey – Conflicted Events: This data source provides the datasets for “the total number of reported political violence, civilian-targeting, and demonstration events in Turkey,” which helps us see the conflicts and demonstration events regarding to censorship and media blocking. The datasets are updated every day, giving us the most current information of the countries.

It can be accessed at https://data.humdata.org/dataset/turkey-acled-conflict-data.

I chose this source because this allows us to look deeply into the relationship between political violence and the issue with human rights that are violated in Turkey.

TURKSTAT: This website provides different datasets that are confirmed by the Turkish government. The contents can be accessed either with English or Turkish, and the available datasets are mainly over the demographics and quality of life of Turkish citizens. When the most recent data was collected varies depending on the datasets, but they seem to be collected annually.

It can be accessed at https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/GetKategori?p=nufus-ve-demografi-109&dil=2.

I chose this source because these datasets help us understand the news and issues that circulate around the social problems and ethnic differences that are present in the country.

Other

Middle East Monitor: This media source provides coverage of news in Middle Eastern countries including Turkey. It is a London-based website written in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and claims to provide an “overlook” of what is happening in countries in Middle East and North Africa. The contents tend to be leaning towards being liberal and centered on Western perspective, but they claim to be factual on their reporting.

It can be accessed at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/ and on Twitter @MiddleEastMnt and on Instagram @middle_eastmnt.

I selected this source because not only the coverage is regarded to be factual and balanced, it would allow the readers to look at the international relationships between Turkey and other neighboring countries.

Middle East Matters: This organization is youth-run non-profit that aims to “amplifying stories, advocating for human rights, and assisting disadvantaged people of the Middle East.” The website is in English and 100% run by women advocates. Their use of social media platforms are more active than their own website, and the contents inform the audience on the issues prevalent in countries in Middle East, eliciting actions and discussions.

It can be accessed at http://www.middleastmatters.org/, on Instagram @middleeastmatters and on Twitter @MEMOrganization.

I chose this source because the organization approaches the issues in the Middle East from women’s perspective, while other sources that we see every day are more likely from men’s perspective. While the coverage of Turkey is limited, it allows us to see Turkey’s foreign relations with neighboring countries.

Global Conflict Tracker: One of the aspects of Turkey that we should not neglect is the national conflict between the Turkish citizens and Kurdish groups. Kurdish people are officially oppressed by the government, and some records show that the earliest censorship occurred with the banning of the positive coverage of Kurdish on press. This website updates the conflicts happening in Turkey and other countries every day. It is overseen by the Council on Foreign Relations which is headquartered in New York with a branch office in D.C. The website is primarily to inform the English-speaking community since it is not translated into other languages, and therefore the issues could unintentionally be reported from an Western perspective.

It can be accessed at https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups.

I chose this source because we do not usually look at a country from the conflict perspective. However, we can understand the political and social aspects of the country through how the conflicts are handled. Beyond the conflicts happening between Turkish and Kurdish, it might be helpful to look at other conflicts that are related to Turkey.

Process Notes

I did not have too much trouble finding news sources since I could look for newspaper publishers on Middle East Newsstream. Since Turkey is under the government’s media censorship, I would like to look for sources that have perspectives that are more objective than numerous pro-government news sources. There should be a plenty of publishers, though, both in Turkey and outside of Turkey with multiple perspectives, and therefore it should not be as problematic as finding social media and new media sources. When I looked for sources that included information about Turkey as a whole country, I had a hard time looking for sources that could both be relevant and credible other than current news and travel guides on social media and blogs. Since blogs are more personalized and could be misleading, I would like to look for more generalized sources putting more focus on looking for websites.