Conservative daily stirs outrage over anti-Semitic headline after Turkey’s Soma disaster

ISTANBUL

Social-media reacted strongly over the appearance of the daily’s headline on May 20, urging the government to condemn such displays of anti-Semitism.

The May 20 front page headline of ultra-conservative pro-government daily Yeni Akit, in which the owner of the Soma Coal Mine Company was criticized for having a Jewish son-in-law, has sparked outrage on social media, with many users denouncing “hate speech.”

The daily, which has a long track record of anti-Semitic slurs, slammed Alp Gürkan for “giving his daughter to a Jew,” while also alleging that this was the main reason why the foreign media was “attacking Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”

Social-media reacted strongly over the appearance of the daily’s headline on May 20, urging the government to condemn such displays of anti-Semitism.

Gürkan has become the target of criticism since the mine accident that killed 301 workers in the western Turkish town of Soma on May 13. Many newspaper outlets close to the government have identified Gürkan as the main individual responsible of the disaster, using his picture and calling on him to “render account” on a number of front pages while defending the government’s response.