Ihlas Media Holding

Established in 2003, İhlas Media Holding (also called İhlas Yayın Holding) was created to oversee all media assets owned by İhlas Holding. This conglomerate has a diverse portfolio of investments in sectors such as construction, real estate, manufacturing, trade, healthcare, education, and media. 

İhlas Yayın Holding A.Ş. (İhlas Media Holding) is the Istanbul-based media arm of the İhlas conglomerate. It publishes the daily Türkiye, operates İhlas News Agency (İHA) and the TGRT television and radio brands, and runs digital publications including the English-language Türkiye Today. The company was registered on 15 July 2003, and its shares began trading on the Istanbul stock exchange on 5 November 2010.

Media assets

Newspaper: Türkiye, in print and online, published by İhlas Gazetecilik A.Ş., according to its masthead.

Magazine: Türkiye’de İş Dünyası, a business magazine and website published by İhlas Gazetecilik A.Ş., according to its masthead.

News agency: İHA, including its English-language service at iha.news.

Television: TGRT Haber, TGRT Belgesel and TGRT, formerly TGRT EU.

Radio: TGRT FM, operated by TGRT Haber TV A.Ş., according to the 2025 annual report.

Digital: turkiyegazetesi.com.tr, tgrthaber.com and Türkiye Today, launched in June 2024. Dijital Varlıklar develops digital projects for the group’s media brands; Mavi Kadın operates within tgrthaber.com.

According to the company, the TGRT channel joined İhlas Yayın Holding on 4 April 2025 and was broadcasting under the TGRT name as of August 2026.

Ownership and governance

The company’s ownership disclosure gives İhlas Holding a 23.96 percent capital stake and chairman Ahmet Mücahid Ören 2.10 percent, with 73.94 percent held by the public. Paid-in capital is TRY 450 million. Their combined holding commands approximately 56.5 percent of voting rights: 47.03 percent for İhlas Holding and 9.47 percent for Ören.

Control is reinforced by privileged Class B shares, which carry 15 votes per share and nomination rights for at least seven members of a nine-person board. İhlas Holding owns 80 percent of this privileged class and Ören 20 percent, according to a corporate governance information form.

The current board is chaired by Ören, with Abdullah Tuğcu as deputy chairman and Ukaşe Gümüşer as general manager and managing director. It includes three members designated independent. Another director, İsmail Kapan, chairs İhlas Gazetecilik and is Türkiye’s print editor-in-chief, according to the masthead.

Source of funding and budget

Revenue comes from newspaper and magazine sales, advertising and announcement income, news sales, printing and technical services, according to the auditor’s report and the annual report. In its audited 2025 consolidated accounts, İhlas Yayın Holding reported revenue of TRY 3.373 billion, an operating loss of TRY 517.8 million and a consolidated net loss of TRY 200.9 million. The loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company was TRY 339.9 million, offset at consolidated level by profits attributable to minority shareholders.

In January–June 2026, consolidated revenue was TRY 1.834 billion, the operating loss TRY 336.7 million and the net loss TRY 434.5 million. Of the latter, TRY 273.5 million was attributable to the parent’s shareholders. Both reports express figures in purchasing power at their respective reporting dates.

Public-sector advertising is documented, although its current contribution to group revenue is not separately disclosed. In October 2021, Bianet reported figures cited in Parliament by CHP MP Utku Çakırözer, putting TGRT’s public-sector advertising volume at 170,000 seconds.

Editorial independence

The Media Ownership Monitor’s Türkiye profile describes the newspaper as supportive of the AKP government and President Erdoğan. The monitor’s record for the İhlas group was last changed in December 2021. Observers interviewed for SMM in May 2024 and March 2025 similarly described Türkiye and TGRT Haber as staunchly pro-government, including in their treatment of opposition parties, independent journalists and competing media.

No published group-wide statute protecting editorial decisions from ownership interference, or oversight body independent of the controlling owners, was identified.

AI and digital policy

Türkiye Today’s AI policy says that all articles it publishes are reported, written and edited by staff journalists. It permits human-reviewed assistance with headlines, translation, document research and image descriptions, and requires labelling of AI-generated illustrative images.

In June 2026, the group described an AI-assisted content-management system serving Türkiye, TGRT Haber and Türkiye Today, with tools for headlines, summaries and keywords. Türkiye’s subscription offering includes AI-generated summaries, a news assistant and machine-generated audio. Equivalent public newsroom AI policies were not identified on the reviewed pages for Türkiye, TGRT Haber or İHA.

Classification rationale

CaPr records SMM’s assessment of state-linked editorial control exercised through private ownership and management. Supporting evidence includes the outlets’ documented political orientation, published content research and SMM’s earlier interviews. Ownership and board appointments remain private. Public-sector advertising does not change this classification.

October 2026