Established in 2003, Ihlas Media Holding was created to oversee all media assets owned by Ihlas Holding. This conglomerate has a diverse portfolio of investments in sectors such as construction, real estate, manufacturing, trade, healthcare, and education.
Ihlas Media Holding operates its media assets through a spate of individual companies. Its portfolio includes the Turkiye newspaper, Ihlas News Agency (IHA), television channels such as TGRT News Channel, TGRT EU, and TGRT Documentary Channel, TGRT FM radio, and the news portal Netgazete.com. Additionally, the holding owns several cooking websites, which are not included in our list due to their irrelevance to the news market.
Media assets
Publishing: Turkiye Gazetesi
Television: TGRT News, TGRT Documentary, TGRT EU
News agency: IHA
News portal: Netgazete
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Private (CaPr)
Ownership and governance
Ihlas Media Holding was established in 2003 by Ihlas Holding to manage its media businesses. In 2010, Ihlas Media Holding started listing its shares on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Currently, Ihlas Holding holds a 49% stake in the media group, with approximately 48% of its shares publicly traded on the exchange. Ahmet Mucahid Oren, the CEO of Ihlas Media Holding, owns about 2% of the shares in the media division.
Source of funding and budget
Of all the media companies and conglomerates controlled by oligarchs with ties to the Turkish government, Ihlas Holding is arguably the most transparent in terms of governance and funding. This is primarily due to its public ownership, as publicly-traded companies are legally required to disclose their financial results.
According to an annual report of the group, the media subsidiary of the holding generated revenues of nearly TRY 241m (US$ 26.5m) in 2021. This resulted in a net gain of TRY 81.4m (US$ 8.9m). In 2022, the media arm of the holding generated revenues of TRY 683.3m (US$ 36.7m), according to a group annual report.
Like other major conglomerates controlled by oligarchs, Ihlas Holding derives a significant portion of its revenue from public orders awarded by the government. However, the group does not disclose the extent of this government funding, making it impossible to accurately estimate its contribution to the group’s overall turnover. Ihlas Media Holding also generates a significant portion of its revenue through ad sales.
Editorial independence
Ihlas Media Holding, known for its loyalty to the government and specifically to President Erdogan, is unusual for a private company. Despite claiming accountability only to its shareholders and asserting the independence of its media, Ihlas’ 2018 annual report revealed a different perspective. The report stated that the newspaper Turkiye’s “consistent and responsible editorial line” received positive feedback from its readers. The report further highlighted that Ihlas Holding’s pro-democracy stance during the recent turbulent times in the country was highly appreciated by state officials, particularly by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s worth noting that President Erdogan regularly invites Ihlas Media’s CEO, Oren, for discussions in the presidential offices.
Journalists at Ihlas’ media frequently launch attacks against the opposition or critics of the government, sometimes even targeting their own colleagues. In a particularly aggressive incident in 2017, several columnists at Turkiye, a publication openly labeled as pro-government by independent journalists, urged the government to forcibly take control of outlets run by their competitor, the Dogan media group. This eventually came to pass.
The most recent round of research for this report did not identify any statute establishing the editorial independence of Ihlas’ media outlets.
During the most recent research phase, no independent assessment or oversight mechanism was identified that could validate the editorial independence of Ihlas’ media outlets.
August 2024