Friends, Turkish media bid farewell to Hürriyet reporter Gülden Aydın

ISTANBUL

Colleagues, friends and family members bid farewell to senior Hürriyet reporter Gülden Aydın at ceremonies held in Istanbul on March 20.

Aydın, a leading journalist who unveiled several harassment and abuse incidents and reported from conflict zones in neighboring countries, succumbed to pancreatic cancer on March 19, following a one-and-a-half years of battle with it.

Hürriyet editor-in-chief Vahap Munyar and his predecessors Sedat Ergin and Ertuğrul Özkök addressed the crowd at the first ceremony held at the Turkish Journalists’ Association’s (TGC) headquarters.

Her brother Gazi Aydın said Gülden Aydın never compromised impartial journalism.

“She was a reporter chasing the truth, made sure not to publish a story without confirming its truth and never made compromises to anyone,” he said.

Aydın’s sisters Mürüvet Aydın and Günay Çopur, her daughter Ceren Karşılayan, and colleagues from Hürriyet and other Turkish media outlets were also present at the ceremony.

A funeral was held at the Beşiktaş Cemevi in central Istanbul, before Aydın was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in the district of Şişli.

Gülden was born in the Divriği district of the Central Anatolian province of Sivas in 1958.

A Faculty of Letters graduate, she worked as a Turkish language and literature teacher for a short time before beginning her journalism career at the 2000’e Doğru news magazine in 1988.

She also worked at Hürriyet newspaper and Aktüel magazine.

Aydın took up a senior position as the news editor of Akşam newspaper in 2002, before returning to Hürriyet in 2004.

Aydın had received several journalism awards and unveiled numbers of scandals, including the rape of seven minors at a primary school in the southeastern province of Siirt, which resulted in the trial of nearly 100 men.

She is the author of “Yeryüzü Yanılgısı,” a poetry book that roughly translates to “The Earth Delusion.”