HÜRRIYET

Daily newspaper in Turkey.

Hürriyet (Freedom) is a politically centrist newspaper known for its ardent antifundamentalist stand. In 1990, its managing editor, Cetin Emeç, was allegedly assassinated by Muslim fundamentalist terrorists.

Hürriyet has a circulation of 600,000, with 150,000 copies distributed in Western Europe, making it the most widely read Turkish newspaper outside the country. In Turkey, Hürriyet 's readers are typically middle class and high school educated.

Hürriyet was founded in 1948 by journalist and publisher Sedat Simavi, in the early years of Turkey's multiparty politics. It quickly became the top-selling daily in Turkey and remained in that position for about forty years, making it the country's most influential newspaper. Once a gossip paper, it gradually improved its serious news coverage. By the end of the 1970s, the paper maintained an extensive network of domestic bureaus and about a dozen international ones. For three years, until 1991, Hürriyet copublished with Bağimsiz Basin Ajansi an English-language weekly, Dateline Turkey.

Hürriyet remained in the Simavi family following the death of the founder in 1953, with his son, Erol, eventually taking sole control. In 1994, the Dogan Group, owner of Milliyet, took a controlling share of the newspaper with the purchase of 70 percent of Hürriyet Holding. Of the remaining stake, 15 percent stayed in the Simavi family and another 15 percent was held by various investors.

See also newspapers and print media: turkey; simavi, sedat.

stephanie capparell