Turkey hosts thousands of registered newspapers, including around 150–200 national titles, although only a fraction maintain significant circulation. A relatively small percentage are nationwide daily newspapers, while the majority consist of local or regional publications. Turkish print media traditionally places strong emphasis on opinion columns and commentary, and outlets are often characterised by pronounced political polarisation. Broadcast media includes hundreds of television channels and thousands of radio stations, including outlets broadcasting in minority languages. The expansion of Kurdish-language media in the 2000s was regarded as a significant development in minority rights, though such outlets have faced regulatory and financial constraints. The principal structural issues affecting mainstream media in Turkey include high concentration of ownership, widespread self-censorship among journalists, and the presence of nationalist rhetoric and hate speech. Public protests by journalists against arrests and newsroom closures were widely reported. By the mid-2000s, three major media groups dominated advertising revenues in Turkey: the
Doğan Media Group and the Sabah group together controlled approximately 80% of newspaper advertising, while Doğan, Sabah and the
Çukurova Group accounted for around 70% of television advertising revenues. In the Turkish context, highly concentrated corporate media power (such as Doğan’s) is even more significant when three additional factors are considered: (1) the willingness of corporate owners to ‘instrumentalize’ reporting in order to fit the wider political-economic interests of the parent company; (2) the weakness of journalists and other employees in the face of the power of corporate owners; and (3) the fact that
corporate power is combined with restrictive state regulation on issues of freedom of speech. As a result, a substantial portion of national print and broadcast media became concentrated within pro-government conglomerates. Major cross-media groups active in Turkey in the 2020s include: •
Demirören Group (owner of
Hürriyet,
Posta,
Milliyet,
Fanatik, and formerly CNN Türk and Kanal D in partnership structures). •
Turkuvaz Media Group of
Çalık Holding (publisher of
Sabah and operator of ATV). •
Doğuş Media Group (owner of NTV and Star TV; Star TV was acquired from Doğan in 2011). •
Ciner Media Group (owner of Habertürk TV and related outlets). • Former assets of the
Çukurova Group were transferred through interventions by the
Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey (TMSF) and subsequently sold to pro-government businessmen in the 2010s. Observers have noted that while ownership concentration was already significant in the 2000s, the post-2016 and especially post-2018 restructuring further reduced pluralism in terms of ownership diversity, even as the number of outlets remained high. In 2018, the sale of the
Doğan Group’s media assets to the
Demirören Group marked a major shift in ownership concentration. The acquisition consolidated a substantial portion of mainstream media under ownership widely perceived as aligned with President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling
AKP. Several outlets formerly owned by the
Çukurova Holding were transferred through state intervention involving the
Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey (TMSF) before being sold to pro-government businessmen. Television accounts for roughly half of advertising revenues in Turkey, while print media’s share has steadily declined. These developments paved the way for pro-government business groups to acquire major media outlets. One of the most notable examples was the purchase of the Doğan Media Group by the
Demirören Group, a conglomerate widely perceived as close to President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The consolidation of media ownership under companies aligned with the government was viewed by observers and international watchdogs as a turning point in the restructuring of Turkey’s media landscape. The total number of readers of print media in Turkey is low, when compared to the big population of the country (95 newspapers per 1000 inhabitants). Circulating newspapers where estimated at 2,450 in 2010, of which 5 national, 23 regional and other local ones. The media hubs of the country are Istanbul and Ankara. By circulation, the most popular daily newspapers are
Hürriyet (330,000 daily sales in 2016),
Sabah (300,000),
Posta (290,000),
Sözcü and
Habertürk. Major Turkish daily newspapers are published every day of the year, including Sundays, religious and secular public holidays. Big media conglomerates, with substantial interests in other economic sectors, dominate the media market and own all the major print and broadcast media. These are the
Doğan Group,
Turkuvaz Media Group,
Ciner Group,
Çukurova Group and
Demirören Group: There are currently around 20
satirical magazines; the leading ones are
Penguen (70,000 weekly circulation),
LeMan (50,000) and
Uykusuz. Historical examples include
Oğuz Aral's magazine
Gırgır (which reached a circulation of 500,000 in the 1970s) and
Marko Paşa (launched 1946). Others include
L-Manyak and
Lombak. Minority newspapers include
IHO and
Apoyevmatini in
Greek language;
Agos,
Jamanak and
Nor Marmara in
Armenian language; and
Şalom by the
Jewish community. Their survival is often at stake. Distribution networks are in the hands of
Doğan Group’s Yay-Sat and
Turkuvaz Group’s Turkuvaz Dağıtım Pazarlama. In 2010 Turkey had around 1,100 private radio stations, of which 100 available on cable - 36 national ones, 102 regional ones, and 950 local ones. TRT four radio channels include
Radyo 1 (general),
Radyo 2 (TRT-FM) (Turkish classical, folk and pop music),
Radyo 3 (primarily classical music and also jazz, polyphonic and western pop music, broadcasts news in English, French and German), and
Radyo 4 (Turkish Music). TRT's international radio service
Türkiye‘nin Sesi /
Voice of Turkey broadcasts in 26 languages. TRT also has 10 regional radio stations. Television broadcasting in Turkey was introduced in 1968 by the state broadcaster
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), preceded by experimental broadcasts by
ITU TV in 1952.
Color television was introduced in 1981. TRT maintained a state monopoly for approximately two decades. On 26 May 1989, Turkey’s first private television channel,
Star TV, began broadcasting from
Germany, effectively bypassing domestic restrictions. The constitutional amendment of August 1993 formally ended TRT’s monopoly and liberalised private broadcasting. Ownership concentration increased significantly after 2018. The sale of the
Doğan Group’s media assets to the
Demirören Group transferred ownership of major outlets including
Kanal D and
CNN Türk to a conglomerate widely regarded as close to President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling
AKP. The
Turkuvaz Media Group (owned by
Çalık Holding) controls
ATV, while the
Ciner Group operates
Habertürk TV. The
Doğuş Media Group owns
NTV and previously acquired Star TV in 2011. Several outlets formerly owned by the
Çukurova Group were transferred via the
Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey (TMSF) before being sold to pro-government businessmen. The main multi-channel platforms include
Digiturk,
D-Smart and the cable provider
Türksat. The broadcast sector is regulated by RTÜK, which oversees licensing and content compliance. Critics argue that regulatory decisions and financial penalties have disproportionately affected opposition broadcasters, contributing to further consolidation and reduced pluralism in the television market.
Cinema . She is known as "Sultan" of the Cinema of Turkey. The Turkish film art and industry, or
Yeşilçam (Green Pine), is an important part of
Turkish culture, and has flourished over the years, delivering entertainment to audiences in
Turkey, expatriates across
Europe, and more recently prospering in the
Arab world and in rare cases, the
United States. The first movie exhibited in the
Ottoman Empire was the
Lumiere Brothers' 1895 film, ''
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, which was shown in Istanbul in 1896. The first Turkish-made film was a documentary entitled Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı (Demolition of the Russian Monument at
San Stefano''), directed by
Fuat Uzkınay and completed in 1914. The first narrative film,
Sedat Simavi's
The Spy, was released in 1917. Turkey's first sound film was shown in 1931. The number of cinema spectator has risen since 2000, in parallel to economic growth, political liberalisation and improved quality of theatres. In 2009, around 255 movies were distributed in Turkey, with a reach of 35 million, of which 70 Turkish movies, which capitalised half of the audience. The cinema audience though remains below European average, and limited to the main cities. 40 movies are produced yearly in Turkey. Award-winning Turkish films have often been supported by the European Union
Eurimages film fund and by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, sometimes attracting more audience abroad than domestically. Two Turkish film companies have been bought by foreign investors in 2007 (
Cinemars by USA's
Colony Capital and
AFM by
Eurasia Cinemas from Russia). The
telecommunications liberalisation process started in Turkey in 2004 after the creation of the Telecommunication Authority, and is still ongoing as of May 2013.
Private sector companies operate in
mobile telephony,
long distance telephony and
Internet access. There were 16.5 million fixed
phone lines, 62.8 million
mobile phone subscribers, and 6.2 million
broadband subscribers by December 2009. Telecommunications liberalisation in Turkey is progressing, but at a slow pace. The Telecommunication Authority (now renamed
Bilgi İletişim ve Teknolojileri Kurumu or
BTK), while technically an independent organization, is still controlled by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. While progress is being made (for example, local as well as
long distance calls are now open to competition), the
incumbent has so far managed in many areas to restrict access and protect its
monopoly. For example,
wholesale line rental is still not available to alternative operators, making it necessary for
subscribers to pay two bills (one for line rental to the incumbent, and one to the chosen operator). The incumbent has so far managed to prevent any operator from connecting its own
fiber optic cable at local loop unbundling exchanges, though it is technically required to allow this. Recently, the incumbent announced it is acquiring
Invitel, one of only two other players in the inter-city capacity business, raising questions as to how the Turkish Competition Board will treat the acquisition. The lack of progress by the BTK in ensuring a competitive playing field can be evidenced by the
market share the incumbent still holds. In broadband, the incumbent's
provider still occupies roughly 95%
share of the market. The Governmental Audit Office of the President (T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Denetleme Kurulu) issued a highly critical report of the BTK in February 2010, listing 115 findings to be addressed. For example, the report found #20 points out that the BTK has completed only 50% to 78% of its stated work plans in each of the years from 2005 to 2008. Alternative operators are rapidly growing, yet much progress needs to be made by the BTK to improve the competitive landscape. The political authority is the
Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication . But there are also two supreme councils;
Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and
Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). While internet and point to point telecommunication is controlled by BTK, radio and television broadcast is controlled by RTÜK.
Internet ==Media organizations==