A great milestone on a long journey
Journalism never gets old. Even so, the 60th year is a great milestone on a long journey, and today, the Hürriyet Daily News has reached it.
The Daily News, founded in 1961, is currently the oldest English-language daily in Turkey.
Turkey and the world have changed enormously in the last 60 years, spanning the era between the Cold War and the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the front page of the first issue, there was a letter from the founder, İlhan Çevik, promising to bring the latest international and local news, promptly, accurately and objectively.
As the leading news source in the region, the Hürriyet Daily News has been providing balanced, objective and impartial journalism to its readers for 60 years.
From the early 2000s to 2018, the Hürriyet Daily News was a member of the Doğan Media Group. In 2018, Demirören Holding bought Doğan’s media assets, including the Hürriyet Daily News.
Demirören Media is currently the largest media group in Turkey, and it is one of the most prominent ones in Europe. The company’s assets include dailies Hürriyet, Milliyet, Posta and the Hürriyet Daily News; TV channels Kanal D and CNN Türk; as well as Demirören News Agency.
As a member of Demirören Media, the Daily News today aspires to reflect the focal points of Turkish politics, society and life to an international readership.
As the most important English-language news source for diplomats and other foreigners in Turkey, the Hürriyet Daily News is known as a reliable and independent international news source that attracts 3 million monthly international digital users to its website, hurriyetdailynews.com.
I took the helm as the Daily News’ new editor-in-chief in 2018, replacing Murat Yetkin. As a prominent journalist, Yetkin ran the newspaper for more than seven years and left an impressive legacy.
The Hürriyet Daily News has a special tradition in journalism. For six decades, it has been a school for many journalists, both Turkish and international. This tradition deserves a special celebration. I would like to thank all former and current reporters, editors, columnists, contributors and employees of the Daily News, all of whom have made this paper “the leading news source for Turkey and the region.”
Today, in the Istanbul and Ankara offices, my colleagues, Özgür Korkmaz, Serkan Demirtaş, Kıvanç Dündar, Nalan Koçak, Beril Aktaş, Engin Esen, Bahadır Gültekin, Emre Ergül, Sevil Erkuş, Hazal Özcan, Nihan Kalle, Lizisha Singh Kanwal, Rıza Bülbül, Levent Yılmaz and Stefan Martens, carry the flag of that tradition.
For 60 years, the Hürriyet Daily News has been the international voice of Turkey, but without our readers, none of that would have been possible. So naturally, I’d like to say a big “thank you” to all of you as we celebrate our diamond anniversary together.