Journalists want end to owners row

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Leading columnists at Milliyet, the Turkish newspaper facing ownership disputes, yesterday called on one of the two partners to end the ongoing dispute.

The journalists in a common voice invited the Karacan family to either withdraw their ownership or make the obligatory payment to the remaining partner, the Demirören Group.

The Karacan family acquired Milliyet and another Turkish newspaper Vatan in an equal partnership with Demirören, from Doğan Yayın Holding, which also owns the Hürriyet Daily News. 

However, the Karacan family, the founder of the daily, has not lived up to the agreement, leading to a trustee taking over the management of Milliyet.

Demirören has put 65 million Turkish Liras into the business since the acquisition, whereas Karacan only invested 2.5 million liras, the minimum to set up as a partner in the company, Fikret Bila said in his column yesterday. 

In a direct statement, columnist Hasan Cemal suggested the Karacan family “stand aside.”