Albayrak Medya
Albayrak Medya, a subsidiary of the Albayrak Group conglomerate, governs several print publications, magazines, a television channel, and news portals. The group has a broad business portfolio spanning sectors including construction, tourism, manufacturing, and defense. Among its media holdings, the daily Yeni Şafak remains its most prominent print publication.
Media assets
Publishing: Newspapers- Yeni Şafak; Magazines- Derin Tarih, Skyroad, Z Raporu, Lokma, Nihayet, CINS, Genc motto, Bilge cocuk, Bilge minik, Gercek Hayat, Post Öykü
Television: TV Net
News portal: GZT, Arkitekt, mecra
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
Albayrak Medya is controlled by the Albayrak family, a conglomerate whose business interests stretch far beyond media into construction, transportation, logistics, tourism, and defence. The six Albayrak brothers – Ahmet, Nuri, Bayram, Kazım, Mustafa, and Muzaffer – maintain collective ownership. Their relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is longstanding and close; one of the brothers attended high school with him, and the two families maintain visible social and political ties.
The board of directors is composed entirely of family members. No outside stakeholders hold significant shares or executive positions. In practice, this creates a closed governance structure where editorial and business decisions remain firmly under the family’s control. As of 2024, there is no evidence of changes in ownership. Leadership positions have occasionally shifted among family members, but no transparent information is available about a professionalised CEO or independent management structure.
Source of funding and budget
Albayrak Medya does not publish financial accounts, and no audited reports are available for 2024 or projections for 2025–2026. Nevertheless, multiple independent reports and interviews with journalists confirm that the group’s media operations are subsidised by profits from its parent conglomerate’s construction and logistics businesses.
The holding has benefitted significantly from state contracts. Estimates published in 2021 indicated that the group secured public tenders worth more than TRY 7 billion (approx. USD 562 million at the 2021 average exchange rate) over 11 years. Local experts interviewed in 2024 noted that these contracts have continued in recent years, particularly in infrastructure and urban transport. In parallel, Yeni Şafak and other Albayrak media outlets are major recipients of state advertising through the Press Advertisement Agency (Basın İlan Kurumu), which acts as a crucial source of operating revenue.
Editorial independence
The editorial line of Albayrak Medya outlets is unambiguously aligned with the Erdoğan administration. Yeni Şafak and TV NET consistently support government policy, while opposition parties are covered in a critical and often hostile tone. This positioning has earned the group a reputation as one of the most loyal private media holdings in Turkey.
Ownership interference in editorial matters is systematic. Journalists working for the group report that hiring and firing decisions are based primarily on loyalty to the owners and their political allies. In September 2023, a number of reporters were dismissed abruptly without explanation, an incident that reinforced perceptions of political interference in newsroom management. Local sources interviewed for this report in 2024 confirmed that such interventions remain common.
There is no statute, charter, or internal oversight body guaranteeing editorial independence within Albayrak Medya. The most recent assessments confirm that no independent mechanism exists to shield journalists from political or owner influence.
September 2025