It was a regional radio station, founded as a private company (as required by Turkish law) but functioning similarly to a nonprofit organization.
Açık Radyo, with other stations (including Radio Nova Paris and RBB Multikulti Berlin), carried out a collaborative program of research and technological development on world music and the internet.
A second (subscription) website, named the "Açık ("open") Site", was launched in late 2001; transcripts from interviews and talk shows were posted.
In 1996, Açık Radyo acted as a semi-official radio station for the UN HABITAT (II) Conference held in Istanbul, broadcasting bilingually for fifteen days.
In 2005, Açık Radyo produced (in cooperation with Radio Nederland) a two-hour program commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto against nuclear arms.
In 2006, Açık Radyo organized a fundraiser entitled "NaturMort" ("Still Life") to draw attention to global climate change.
In the autumn of 2005, a group of students from İstanbul Bilgi University created a programing contest enabling young people to express themselves through alternative media.
With the addition of funds raised from a few thousand "listener-sponsors" to income from advertisements and sponsorship, Açık Radyo hoped to reach a level of permanent financial sustainability.
One hundred old (and new) presenters came together in panel programmes to discuss the last ten years of culture and music broadcasting of Açık Radio and around the world.
On 22 May 2024, the station was ordered suspended for five days by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) for allegedly inciting hatred following remarks made by a guest the previous month describing the killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.