Fatih Altaylı
Fatih Altaylı (born 20 September 1962) is a Turkish journalist, columnist, television presenter and media executive.
[2] He is also one of the co-founders of the campaigns "Haydi Kızlar Okula", a campaign to support girls enrolment in school, implemented in cooperation with UNICEF and the Ministry of National Education,[3] "Sürekli Aydınlık İçin Bir Dakika Karanlık", an act of civil disobedience led by lawyer Ergin Cinmen and the Citizens' Initiative for Continuous Light founded on 1 February 1997 and "Temiz İnternet", a campaign organised in order to raise social awareness against violence, child pornography and similar publications on the Internet.
In the summer of 2002, Fatih Altaylı was appointed top executive of the television channel Kanal D.[6] In 2005, he parted ways with Doğan Media Group and joined Sabah Media Group, his Teke Tek programme broadcast on Kanal D was transferred to atv and he continued his columns in Sabah.
He resigned in 2007 after the TMSF seized Sabah newspaper and atv due to financial problems of the former owner Dinç Bilgin.
[6][8][9] Altaylı worked a while as a freelancer writing at his own website before he was appointed the top executive of the newly established newspaper Habertürk in January 2009.
He had also presented the program Teke Tek at Ciner owned sister media channel Habertürk TV, which he had joined in 2008 and worked for until his resignation in 2023.
"[16] In a section of his column titled "Tebrikler Burak Elmas Başkan" dated 20 June 2021, Altaylı wrote: "I have never seen the party I voted for win in Turkey except for two local elections."
[17][18] Following the 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey, Altaylı was heavily criticized for allegedly manipulating the election polls by vote shifting from MHP to BDP to favor the PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's party in a series of tape recordings that were leaked onto the internet,[19][20] and for supposedly publishing an article at the request of PM Erdoğan, which led to firing of an editor and two journalists from Habertürk.
"[23] Altaylı, who also claimed that the audio recordings of him published on the internet were edited, stated "For years, everyone has been talking about pressure on the media.
[26] On 21 February 2023, the Directorate of Religious Affairs filed a lawsuit seeking a jail term of at least 6 months against Altaylı over "perverted" comments.
[27] The controversy began when Altaylı reacted to a response posted on the website of the Diyanet's High Council of Religious Affairs in the "FAQ from the earthquake zone" section.
"[29][30] Altaylı, who strongly criticized the religious body members statements, defended himself by asserting that his comments fell within the boundaries of freedom of expression.
[32][33][34] Both Fenerbahçe and the Turkish Football Federation denied Altaylı's claim: with the TFF; stating that the project and authorisation of the Super Cup final belongs to them, and has nothing to do with Ali Koç.
[32][33] On 3 January 2024, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an ex officio investigation against Altaylı for "praising the crime and the criminal" for his tweet "Health to your hand",[35][36] regarding the incident in which university student Ege Akersoy punched İsmail Aydemir who opened the flag of the caliphate during his participation in the "Mercy for our Martyrs, Support for Palestine, Curse against Israel" march held in Istanbul on 1 January 2024.
Şirin who is the ultras leader of Galatasaray's fan group ultrAslan, states that he filed the lawsuit over Altaylı allegedly insulting him.
[40] Istanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant Altaylı to 7 months imprisonment for "publicly insulting in a chain".
[42][43][44] He claims that nobody in the government would respond to his requests, but at the same time did not even attempt to make an effort to give the deed to the Armenian Patriarchate.
