List of journalists killed in Turkey

For the years up to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 little is known about the journalists named in the lists. They may have been killed or become victims of enforced disappearance, several of them during the Armenian Genocide. Only few of the journalists that were killed in Turkey until 1923 have a separate page, where you can find additional information. The 40 journalists that allegedly died as a result of violent attacks are:

Name	Publication	Place	Date	Remarks
Hasan Fehmi	Serbesti	İstanbul	6 April 1909	opposed the Committee of Union and Progress[3]
Ahmet Samim	Sada-yı Millet	İstanbul	9 June 1910
Zeki Bey	Şehrah	İstanbul	10 July 1911
Hüseyin Kami	Alemdar	Konya	1912
Silahçı Tahsin	Silah	İstanbul	27 July 1914
Kevork Ferid	Tasvir’i Efkar		April 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Hovhannes Kazancıyan	Journalist-writer		April 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Krikor Torosyan	Dizağik		April 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Sarkis Minassian	Azadamard	Ayaş	5 May 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Sarkis Süngücüyan	İravunk		1 June 1915	fate not known[4]
Nerses Papazyan	Azadamard	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Harutün Şahrigyan	Azadamard	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Garabed Paşayan Khan	writer	Ayaş	1915	allegedly tortured then killed[4]
Levon Larents	Tsayn Hayrenyats	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Smpad Piurad	Pünig	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Hampartsum Hampartsumyan	Azadamard	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Keğam Parseğyan	Azadamard	Ankara	1915	he was killed in Ayaş, close to Ankara[4]
Şavarş Krisyan	Marmnamarz	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Adom Yarcanyan	Azadamard	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Armen Doryan	writer	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Sarkis Parseğyan	Aşkhadank	Ankara	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Yervant Srmakeşhanlıyan	Journalist-writer	Harput	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Hovhannes Hanıtyunyan	Journalist-writer	Harput 1915	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Gagik Ozanyan	Merzifon Halguni	Sivas	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Mardiros H. Kundakçıyan	Ceride-i Şarkiye	Kayseri	1915	executed[4]
Onnig Tertsagyan	Azadamard	Van	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Dikran Odyan	Yergir		1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Karekin Khajag	writer	Diyarbakır	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Rupen Zartaryan	Azadamard	Diyarbakır	May 1915	murdered before arrival in Diyarbakır[4]
Karakin Gozikyan	Manzume	Trabzon	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Khaçadur Malumyan	Azadamard	Diyarbakır	1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Krikor Zohrab	Journalist-writer	Urfa	15 July 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide in May 1915[4]
Mihran Tabakyan	writer	Yozgat	August 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Hagop Terzian	Journalist-writer	Yozgat	24 August 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Diran Kelegyan	Sabah	Çankırı	26 August 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Taniel Varujan	writer-poet	Çankırı	26 August 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Rupen Sevag	Çilingiryan	Çankırı	26 August 1915	murdered during the Armenian Genocide[4]
Hasan Tahsin	Hukuk-u Beşer	İzmir	15 May 1919
Hüseyin Hilmi	İştirak	İstanbul	15 November 1922
Ali Kemal	Peyam-ı Sabah	İzmit	1922

Only few cases of journalists killed in Turkey between the foundation of the Republic and the military coup of 12 September 1980 were listed. Yet, some of these killings were high-profile assassinations that contributed to the atmosphere of political violence (often termed "civil war") that the Turkish army used as the main reason for its intervention. A bit more information is available on some of the 15 cases reported for this period:

Name	Publication	Place	Date	Remarks
Hikmet Şevket			1930
Sabahattin Ali	Marko Paşa	Edirne	2 April 1948	listed under writers
Aziz Korkmaz	Hürriyet	Silvan	19 October 1975	As chief of the Diyarbakır office of Hürriyet he had reported on a clash between a Kurdish tribe and soldiers of the gendarmerie. The following day he allegedly died in an accident, but his corpse was found 150 metres away from the car and all his equipment and material had gone. The Turkish deep state is believed to be behind his murder.[5][6]
Adem Yavuz	Anka News Agency	Cyprus	27 August 1974	see tr:Adem Yavuz
Hüseyin Şen	KAWA	Istanbul	21 March 1978	He was the editor-in-chief of the journal and member of a Kurdish newspaper. He was allegedly tortured and killed in Selimiye (Istanbul) military prison.[7]
Gani Bozarslan	Aydınlık		10 May 1978	Translated books from Kurdish to Turkish
Ali İhsan Özgür	Politika	Istanbul	21 November 1978	Politika was first issued by DİSK and later by the TKP. Ali İhsan Özgür disappeared so that the family had difficulties in identifying him.[8]
Cengiz Polatkan	Hafta Sonu	Ankara	1 December 1978
Abdi İpekçi	Milliyet	İstanbul	1 February 1979	two members of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves, Oral Çelik and Mehmet Ali Ağca (who later shot pope John Paul II), murdered Abdi İpekçi in his car on the way back home from his office in front of his apartment building in Istanbul.[9] Ağca was caught due to an informant and was sentenced to life in prison. After serving six months in a military prison in Istanbul, Ağca escaped with the help of military officer.
İlhan Darendelioğlu	Ortadoğu	Istanbul	19 November 1979	member of the MHP, see tr:İlhan Egemen Darendelioğlu
İsmail Gerçeksöz	Ortadoğu	Istanbul	4 April 1980	has also published books[10]
Hayrabet Honca	Halkın Birliği	Kayseri	1 May 1980	member of TKP/ML, killed by right-wingers[11]
Ümit Kaftancıoğlu	TRT	İstanbul	11 April 1980	right-wing Ahmet Mustafa Kıvılcım stated in his interrogation by the police that he killed Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, because he was a "leftist", but later rejected the statement. He remained four months in pre-trial detention and was released. The assailants were not found.[12]
Muzaffer Fevzioğlu	Hizmet	Trabzon	15 April 1980
Recai Ünal	Demokrat	Istanbul	22 July 1980	allegedly kidnapped and tortured[13]

see also List of assassinated people from Turkey that was previously called Laicist Turks who are murdered

After the military coup of 1980 fewer journalists were killed in the fight between the radical left and the extreme right. After the end of the 1980s there have been several killings of journalists known for their anti-government attitude and secular (in Turkey also termed laicist). In some cases members of radical Islamic organizations have been prosecuted and condemned for these killings. In one case a militant of the PKK allegedly confessed to such a killing. Other killings in the 1980s and 1990s include:

Name	Publication	Place	Date	Remarks
Mevlüt Işıt	Türkiye	Ankara	1 June 1988
Kamil Başaran	Gazete	İstanbul	28 February 1989	He was shot by the owner of a restaurant, who did not like his way of reporting.[6]
Seracettin Müftüoğlu	Hürriyet	Nusaybin	29 June 1989
Sami Başaran	Gazete	İstanbul	7 November 1989	He had an interview with the leader of a Kurdish tribe from Mardin in his office in Aksaray (Istanbul). He was shot there at the age of 25.[6]
Çetin Emeç	Hürriyet	İstanbul	7 March 1990	Two people entered his car and shot him and his driver Sinan Ercan.[6] For this killing four members of the Islamic Movement Organization (tr: İslami Hareket Örgütü were sentenced to life imprisonment, but his brother does not believe that the true killers were caught.[14]
Turan Dursun	2000'e Doğru	İstanbul	4 September 1990	For this killing a member of the Islamic Movement Organization (tr: İslami Hareket Örgütü was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the person believed to be his killer, is still on the run.[14]
Uğur Mumcu	Cumhuriyet	Ankara	24 January 1993	While different hypothesis exist on who was behind the killing the prosecutor's office in Ankara maintains that two assassins were sentenced and a case opened against the third suspect had been opened, all three of them being members of the Tawhid-Salaam Jerusalem Organization (tr: Tevhid-Selam Kudüs) that allegedly was behind the murder.[15]
Onat Kutlar	Cumhuriyet	İstanbul	11 January 1995	The brother of the archaeologist Yasemin Cebenoyan, who had died in the same bomb attack, complained that many people thought the murder had not been solved or that an Islamic organization was behind it. He had been convicted in 2005, but as a confessor he had been released after 9.5 years' imprisonment.[16]
Ahmet Taner Kışlalı	Cumhuriyet	Ankara	21 October 1999	His death as well as the killings of Uğur Mumcu, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Prof. Dr. Muammer Aksoy and Assistant Professor Dr. Bahriye Üçok were the subject of a trial at Ankara Heavy Penal Court 11 known as the Umut (Hope) case. The court ruled that the defendants had formed an illegal organization by the name of "Kudüs Ordusu" (Jerusalem Army) and "Tevhid Selam" (Tawhid-Salaam) and had committed violent acts in Turkey. On 28 July 2005 one defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment, while seven others received sentences as leaders or members of an illegal organization.[17] The Court of Cassation confirmed the sentence of the main suspect on 11 November 2006.[18]

In the 1990s the Kurdish-Turkish conflict became harsher with a large number of casualties on both sides. At the same time more and more civilians fell victim to extrajudicial killings, murders by unknown assailants (tr: faili meçhul), a term used in Turkish to indicate that the perpetrators were not identified because of them being protected by the State and cases of disappearance. Soon after the pro-Kurdish press had started to publish the first daily newspaper by the name of "Özgür Gündem" (Free Agenda) killings of Kurdish journalists started. In many cases, the state was blamed for murders and in some cases the Turkish variety of the radical Islamic organization Hizbullah was made responsible for the killings, in others the PKK was accused, but the majority remained without a clear indication to the persons behind the fatal attacks. Hardly any of them has been clarified or resulted in sanctions for the assailants. Among the 33 journalists that were killed in the first half of the 1990s are also cases not related to the Kurdish conflict. In 2008, the European Court of Human Right condemned Turkey for executing and assassinating Kurdish journalists and writers. Musa Anter, a prominent Kurdish writer, was killed by the state in 1992.[19]

Among Kurdish patriots (tr: yurtsever, often used as an acronym for sympathizers of the PKK by the state) the "tradition" that started with Özgür Gündem is often called "history of the free press". In this context the figure of 76 victims (called martyrs of the press; tr: basın şehitleri) is often mentioned.[20] While the lists compiled under such headings contain 73 names[21] it has to be said that they include names of journalists and distributors that were killed by the Turkish state, Turkish JITEM and under tragic circumstances(e.g. in a traffic accident). In 2008, the ECHR has condemned Turkey for assassinating Musa Anter who was working for Özgur Gundem.[19]

Yet, the number of staff members of the "free press" and volunteers to distribute dailies and weeklies termed "Kurdish free press" that were killed "on duty", particularly during the early stages of reporting on the Kurdish question in Turkey remains high. The list of names of distributors of Özgür Gündem and its successors that were killed (while the perpetrators mostly remained unknown) includes 18 names. Among the 33 journalists that were killed between 1990 and 1995 most were working for the so-called Kurdish Free Press.

Name	Publication	Place	Date	Remarks
Gündüz Etil	Yeni Günaydın	İstanbul	18 September 1991
Halit Güngen	2000'e Doğru	Diyarbakır	18 February 1992	He was killed by unidentified murderers two days after reporting that eyewitnesses and sympathizers of Turkish Hezbollah had said that members of the organization were educated in the headquarters of Turkey's rapid deployment force (Çevik Kuvvet) in Diyarbakır.[22]
Cengiz Altun	Yeni Ülke	Batman	25 February 1992	aged 24, he was killed by six bullets fired into his back as he was on his way to work.[23]
İzzet Kezer	Sabah	Cizre	23 March 1992	a journalist for the mainstream daily, Sabah; shot and killed by security forces in Cizre during violence that followed the celebration of the Kurdish New Year. During a state-imposed curfew, Kezer and other journalists emerged from their hotel waving white flags. No shooting was going on at the time. Kezer, at the head of the group, reached an intersection and was shot dead by security forces who fired from an armored personnel carrier. No action has been taken against the security forces responsible for his death.[23]
Bülent Ülkü	Körfeze Bakış	Bursa	1 April 1992	aged 26, he was found wounded near Uludağ on 1 April and died shortly afterwards. The autopsy certified marks of handcuffs and ink on his fingers.[24] Officials claimed that he was the victims of an internal dispute between left-wing organizations, but friends deny such a possibility.[25]
Mecit Akgün	2000e Doğru	Nusaybin	2 June 1992	His body was found hanging from a telephone pole near the village of Colova in Nusaybin. It was claimed that a statement was found on his body saying that he was "punished because he was a traitor", this was allegedly signed by the PKK.[23]
Hafız Akdemir	Özgür Gündem	Diyarbakır	8 June 1992	Killed by a single bullet shot into the back of his head, fifty meters from his home in Diyarbakir. Ozgur Gundem began publication on 30 May 1992; reporters stated that they had received telephoned threats for several days, several addressed to Akdemir. He had written about the Islamic organization Hezbollah and Turkish counterguerrillas.[26][23]
Çetin Ababay	Özgür Halk	Batman	29 July 1992	he was shot in the head by three unidentified men while on his way home in Batman.[23]
Yahya Orhan	Özgür Gündem	Gercüş	31 July 1992	aged 30, he was shot and killed by unknown assailants. Ozgur Gundem reported that Mr. Orhan had been stopped on the street and threatened.[23]
Hüseyin Deniz	Özgür Gündem	Ceylanpınar	9 August 1992	aged 36, he was critically wounded by one bullet fired into his neck. Mr. Deniz was also the regional correspondent for the daily, Cumhuriyet.[23]
Musa Anter	Özgür Gündem	Diyarbakır	20 September 1992	aged 74, Mr. Anter had written for Ozgur Gundem and Yeni Ulke, as well as for the Kurdish newspaper, Welat. He was also the chairman of the board of the Mesopotamian Cultural Center in Istanbul. Mr. Anter was reportedly lured from his hotel on false pretenses and shot in the outskirts of Diyarbakir. A relative accompanying him was shot and wounded at the same time.[23]
Mehmet Sait Erten	Azadi-Denk	Diyarbakır	3 November 1992
Yaşar Aktay	free-lanced	Hani	9 November 1992	During the violent incidents in Hani district, he was reportedly killed during clashes between the PKK militants and government forces.[24]
Hatip Kapçak	Serbest/Hürriyet	Mazıdağı	18 November 1992	the Mardin reporter for a local newspaper, Soz, and for the weekly journal, Gercek (Fact), was killed in an armed attack in the Mazidagi district of Mardin on 18 November. Mr. Kapcak had been researching and reporting on the activities of the Turkish Hezbollah organization, which allegedly has ties to security forces. Mr. Kapcak had served six years in prison on political charges following the 1980 military coup. After his release, he wrote for the mainstream daily, Gunes, and then for the daily, Hurriyet.[23]
Namık Tarancı	Gerçek	Diyarbakır	20 November 1992	aged 37, he was shot and killed on his way to work. He reportedly received three bullets in his head after an attack by two assailants and died on the spot.[23]
Kemal Kılıç	Yeni Ülke	Şanlıurfa	18 February 1993	aged 29, he was shot dead with two bullets in the head by four assailants. Mr. Kilic had been writing for the newspaper Yeni Ulke since the suspension of publication of Ozgur Gundem in January. Mr. Kilic was also a member of the board of the Urfa Branch of the Turkish Human Rights Association. Mehmet Senol, the Diyarbakir representative for Ozgur Gundem, reported that Mr. Kilic had applied for a gun license, but that his application had been rejected.[23] He was shot and killed by unknown assailants in Kulunce Village, near the city of Urfa. Police had questioned him about a news release he had published on the difficulties distributors had faced in selling the newspaper in Sanli Urfa Province.[27]
Mehmet İhsan Karakuş	Silvan Gazetesi	Silvan	13 March 1993	aged 53, owner of the local newspaper Silvan. He was shot by unknown assailants that could not be identified until the end of 1993.[28]
Ercan Güre	Hürriyet News Agency	Bergama	20 May 1993	or Ercan Gürel, soon after the incident Veysel Özakıncı was detained as his killer and stated that he killed him because of a dispute of the ownership of land.[28]
Ömer Taşar	Milli Gazete	Saraybosna	26 June 1993	killing outside Turkey by fire opened from Serbian positions.[28]
İhsan Uygur	Sabah	İstanbul	6 July 1993
Rıza Güneşer	Halkın Gücü	İstanbul	14 July 1993	he was the owner of the left-wing journal "Halkın Gücü". The murder is believed to have been committed by the "Bedri Yağan group", a split of the Devrimci Sol[28]
Ferhat Tepe	Özgür Gündem	Bitlis	28 July 1993	disappeared when he was reportedly forced to get into a car. Although several teams of police were seen patrolling the streets at the time, they denied any knowledge of the incident. On 8 August a body found in Lake Hazar, near the city of Elazig, was identified as being Tepe's.[29] On 9 May 2003 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the material in the case file does not enable it to conclude beyond all reasonable doubt that the applicant’s son was abducted and killed by any State agent or person acting on behalf of the State authorities.[30]
Muzaffer Akkuş	Milliyet	Bingöl	20 September 1993	Aged 34, was killed by unknown assailants.[31][28]
Ruhi Can Tul	TDN[32]	Kırıkkale	14 January 1994	aged 29, Ruhican Tul died when a bomb exploded in a bus going from Ankara to Samsun. Three people were killed. The PKK allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack.[33]
Nazım Babaoğlu	Gündem	Siverek	12 March 1994	he is presumed dead after disappearing in Siverek, a small town near Urfa. He had traveled there to follow up on a news tip from a colleague, who later denied phoning him.[34]
Kamil Koşapınar	Zaman	Erzurum	19 March 1994	according to the newspaper he worked for, Kâmil Koşapınar was killed by a stray bullet at a photo shop.[35]
İsmail Ağay	Özgür Ülke	Batman	29 May 1994	surname might be Ağaya; according to the Bar Association in Batman such a person is "missing" since December 1994.[36]
Erol Akgün	Devrimci Çözüm	Gebze	8 September 1994	editor-in-chief of the left-wing weekly Devrimci Cozum, was killed by unidentified assailants as he left his home in Gebze, near Istanbul. His colleagues at the paper believe a rival left-wing faction killed him because he was the weekly's editor.[37]
Bahri Işık	Çağdaş Marmara	İstanbul	17 September 1994
Ersin Yıldız	Özgür Ülke	İstanbul	3 December 1994	aged 30, he died when the offices of his paper in Istanbul were destroyed by a bomb, planted by unidentified persons, 19 staff members were wounded.[33]
Bekir Kutmangil	Yeni Günaydın	İstanbul	23 May 1995	he was the owner of the local newspaper, but reportedly he was involved in affairs of organized crime. A rival was made responsible for the killing.[38]
Nail Aydın	Son Haber	Giresun	28 July 1995
Seyfettin Tepe	Yeni Politika	Bitlis	28 August 1995	also spelled Safyettin Tepe, he was taken into custody on 22 August. Four days later he was moved to the Bitlis Security Directorate. He died in custody on 29 August. His family was told that he committed suicide but rejects that official explanation.[39]

At the same time several people distributing pro-Kurdish newspaper in the region under a state of emergency, were killed, too. The list of names of distributors of Özgür Gündem and its successors that were killed (while the perpetrators mostly remained unknown) includes 18 names:[40]

Name	Date	Place	Remarks
Halil Adanır	21 November 1992	Diyarbakır	taxi driver, aged 32, married with 5 children, he was burned to death in his car while delivering pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgur Gundem. The government is blamed for his death.[23]
Kemal Ekinci	16 December 1992	Diyarbakır	Hh was killed as he left his house in the Saraykapi district. In early December, he had acted as a spokesperson for newspaper vendors who were protesting the prevention of newspaper sales in Diyarbakir.[23]
Lokman Gündüz	31 December 1992	Nusaybin	Aged 20, he had started distributing the pro-Kurdish newspaper that day.[23]
Orhan Karaağar	10 January 1993	Van	After being threatened by the government forces a numerous of times for delivering pro-Kurdish newspaper, he was knifed to death.[41][28]
Teğmen Demir	5 June 1993	Batman	He worked for pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgur Gundem and was found dead on 5 June 1993.[42]
Haşim Yaşa	14 June 1993	Diyarbakır	Aged 34, father of seven children was detained and beaten at the local police station. He and his uncle were killed by the Turkish state.[43][44][28]
Yusuf Karaüzüm	26 August 1993	Silvan	aged 27, attack of three people, second victim was Vahit Demir (30)[28]
Zülküf Akkaya	28 September 1993	Diyarbakır	aged 34, killed by three people. In protest the shops selling papers closed for several days.[28]
Adil Başkan	9 November 1993	Nusaybin	aged 28, he had been threatened before.[28]
Yalçın Yaşa	10 November 1993	Diyarbakır	aged 13
Kadir İpeksürer	19 November 1993	Urfa	He was attacked by militants of Turkish Hezbollah with cleavers and died in hospital.[28]
Adnan Işık	27 November 1993	Van	aged 29, married with four children, witnesses claimed that the assailants entered Van Police HQ with their cars.[28]
Mehmet Sencer	4 December 1993	Diyarbakır	aged 41, of Arabic off-spring.[28]
Musa Dürü	3 December 1993	Batman	the killings of Musa Dürü and Yahya Çilligöz happened within just 15 minutes.[28]
Yahya Çilligöz	3 December 1993	Batman	the killings of Musa Dürü and Yahya Çilligöz happened within just 15 minutes.[28]
Zuhat Tepe	14 December 1993	Iskenderun	aged 27, he was found 50 metres away from his home with his throat being cut.[28]
Hıdır Çelik	23 August 1994	Diyarbakır	aged 40, no result of the investigations until the end of 1994.[33]
Metin Alataş	3 April 2010	Adana	aged 34, distributing the Kurdish daily newspaper Azadiya Welat, was found hanging from a tree. He was also attacked in December whilst distributing the paper in the region. Colleagues believe he was killed by "illegal forces" or forced to commit suicide.[45]

The killings of journalists in Turkey since 1995 are more or less individual cases. Most prominent among the victims is Hrant Dink, killed in 2007, but the death of Metin Göktepe also raised great concern, since police officers beat him to death. Since 2014, several Syrian journalists who were working from Turkey and reporting on the rise of Daesh have been assassinated.

The death of Metin Alataş in 2010 is also a source of disagreement - while the autopsy claimed it was suicide, his family and colleagues demanded an investigation. He had formerly received death threats and had been violently assaulted.[46]

• Human Rights in Turkey
• Censorship in Turkey
• List of assassinated people from Turkey
• List of arrested journalists in Turkey