Nokta

Nokta

File:Nokta 29 March 2007.jpg
Frequency	weekly
First issue	1 March 1982
Final issue	2007
Country	Turkey
Language	Turkish
ISSN	1301-613X
OCLC number	10805922

Nokta ("dot" in Turkish) was a leading Turkish weekly political news magazine. Founded in 1983, it was closed down by its owner in 2007 under military pressure after revealing several coup plots.

Contributors to Nokta included Ayşe Arman, Can Dündar and Ahmet Şık.

History and profile

The magazine was launched by Ercan Arıklı on 1 March 1982 as Nokta ve İnsanlar. It became Nokta in 1983. The magazine had a liberal and progressive stance during the Ercan Arıklı period.

In 1989 it was the highest-circulation news weekly in Turkey, ahead of 2000'e Doğru.

2007

In March 2007, Nokta ran a story, written by its Editor in Chief, Ahmet Alper Görmüş, revealing a confidential campaign of the military blacklisting some journalists and press organs, based on a leaked report prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff categorizing journalists as "trustworthy" (pro military) and "untrustworthy" (anti military). While the military acknowledged the existence of such a list, they declared that the version published by Nokta was "only a draft". The newspaper Sabah said that Nokta's report does not conform to the format used by the military.

Later that month, Nokta published excerpts of a diary, allegedly written by admiral Özden Örnek, a former navy commander. Following the publication, the magazines offices were raided by the police in a three-day operation. The diary detailed two plans for a military coup, both by the commanders of the army (Aytaç Yalman), navy (Özden Örnek) and the air force (İbrahim Fırtına), together with the gendarmerie chief (Şener Eruygur), and aiming to overthrow the AK Party government in 2004.

Subsequently, its owner, Ayhan Durgun, discontinued the publication. Görmüş joined the daily Taraf, where he criticized journalists who were aware of the diaries for not revealing them.

Coup diary

Main article: Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven

In 2007, the now-defunct weekly published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired admiral Özden Örnek, indicating that three coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), and Eldiven (glove). Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery. The Armed Forces has prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether. For his part, general Hurşit Tolon said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him. The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment.

The diary agrees with minutes of the meeting on which the diary was based. The minutes were found in the home of retired captain Muzaffer Yıldırım who, along with Tolon and Eruygur, was detained in the frame of an investigation into a conspiratorial organization named "Ergenekon". On this basis, it has been claimed that the diaries are authentic.

These excerpts were later cited as key evidence in the March 2009 indictment of a round of suspects, including retired generals Eruygur and Tolon, arrested in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged illegal Ergenekon organization and charged with plotting to overthrow the legal government of the Republic of Turkey.

See also

• Censorship in Turkey

2015

In 2015 Ramazan Köse revived the magazine. Due to criticism of the government the magazine was raided by the police and its 18. edition was forbidden.

Weblinks

• Website

• Owner of now-defunct Nokta magazine Durgun: We did a historic job Today's Zaman, 28 September 2009.
• Lois Whitman, Thomas Froncek (1989) Paying the Price: Freedom of Expression in Turkey. Human Rights Watch, 1989. pp. 30-2
• Medyaironik, Taraf.