Turkish Airlines stops distribution of Zaman and Today’s Zaman on its planes


Date posted: December 23, 2013

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has put an embargo on dailies affiliated with the Fethullah Gülen Movement, which has been in at odds with the government over an ongoing corruption investigation, local news agencies reported.

The airline, 74 percent of which is owned by the state, had already stopped delivering the English-language daily Today’s Zaman in airport terminals and on planes before slashing the distribution of its Turkish sibling, daily Zaman, by two-thirds, Cihan News Agency reported.

Doğan News Agency quoted the Turkish Airlines Press Office as saying Zaman, Today’s Zaman and another publication with links to the Gülen movement, Bugün, will remain in the free daily selection presented at terminal buildings, but the company will not hand out the newspapers inside the planes as of today.
THY passengers can get free newspapers by showing their tickets after passing through a security check at the international terminal, but the company also distributes a limited selection of newspapers for business class passengers inside the plane.

According to the press office, these dailies will only be removed from this selection.

Zaman, Today’s Zaman and Bugün have vocally criticized the government over the corruption scandal, warning authorities to avoid interference in the legal process.

The high-level graft probe has shaken Turkey’s political establishment, exposing a bitter feud between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and influential Muslim scholar Gülen, whose followers hold key positions in the police, judiciary and secret services.

The rift first became particularly visible to the public after the government announced plans to shut down private education centers, known as “dershanes,” many of which are owned by Gülen supporters.

The tension publicly escalated after daily Taraf revealed on Nov. 28 that the government had signed a National Security Council (MGK) decision recommending an action plan against the Gülen movement in 2004.

Taraf also claimed that the Turkish government had profiled a number of pro-Gülen groups based on religion and faith through the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), monitoring their activities until as recently as 2013.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News , December 23, 2013

Tags: | | | |


Related News

In Erdogan regime western-oriented intellectuals, bureaucrats, liberals, Kurds, civil society activists in mortal danger

Those in prison—educated, Western-oriented intellectuals and bureaucrats, liberals, Kurds, civil society activists, and supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen—are in mortal danger. When blood flows from the prisons, it will be no accident nor should anyone believe Erdogan’s security forces were simply reacting to a crisis.

International panel on Mary was held in Istanbul

An international panel, titled “Mary in the Holy Scripture and Qur’an,” was jointly held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (GYV) Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADİP), the Tevere Institute and İzmir Intercultural Dialogue Center (İZDİM) at WoW Hotel in Istanbul. The two-day meeting was attended by a number of leading scholars and intellectuals of the field and focused on such topics as “Approaches to Mary,” “Debate on Mary,” “Mary Doctrine and its Historical Development.”

Lawyers for Gulen Call Flynn’s Comments ‘Troubling’

Gulen has never been charged with a crime in the U.S., and he has consistently denounced terrorism as well as the failed coup in Turkey. One of Gulen’s lawyers, Jason Weinstein, called Flynn’s comments about Gulen “troubling” but said the extradition process is a legal matter in the hands of the Department of Justice.

Turkey’s spying imams also active in Norway: monitoring group

Norwegian Islamist religious organizations that are affiliated with the Turkish government and its Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) are reportedly involved in unlawful profiling activities of unsuspecting people of Turkish origin across Norway.

Turkey: A climate of fear; losers in the aftermath of the coup attempt

Turkey at large will lose as Erdoğan chooses the retaliatory path and purges relentlessly, splitting the country into supporters and adversaries. A climate of fear and indignation will envelop not only the many institutions that were hit hard, but Turkey in general, and the Middle East will suffer even further than it is already suffering.

Fethullah Gülen’s photo

A religious cleric, currently a popular figure who frequently appears on TV, once told me a sad anecdote.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

In Case You Missed It

U.S. State Department, Citing Security, Suspends [Fulbright] Teaching Program in Turkey

“True change in a society cannot be achieved through politics but through conscience and collective awareness”

A Visit with Turkey’s Controversial Religious Movement

Islamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in prep school row

Woman looking after disabled children alone as prosecutor husband under arrest for 270 days

Hizmet Movement NGOs from 80 nations share intercultural experiences at GYV meeting

Review of Dogan Koc’s Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gulen: English vs. Turkish

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News