Türk Medya

Türk Medya (TürkMedya) is a Turkish media group controlled by the businessman Zeki Yeşildağ. Its main brands are the newspaper Akşam, the television channels 24 TV, TV360 and TV4, the radio stations Alem FM and Lig Radyo, and the magazines Alem and Platin.

Media assets

Newspapers: Akşam, Güneş and Star. The print editions of Star and Güneş ended at the end of 2019, and both brands continue as websites (star.com.tr and gunes.com).

Television: 24 TV, described by the group as a news channel, TV360, described as a family entertainment channel, and TV4, described as offering programmes for families.

Radio: Alem FM, Lig Radyo and 24 Radyo.

Magazines: Alem, Platin and Savtek, which covers defence, strategy and technology.

Digital: aksam.com.tr, star.com.tr, gunes.com and tercuman.com, and the group’s digital unit TürkMedya Dijital.

Ownership and governance

MOM’s record, last changed on 6 December 2021, states that Zeki Yeşildağ owns 100 per cent of Türk Medya Group. The main company is T Medya Yatırım Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., which MOM says is 95 per cent held by Es Yayıncılık (renamed TM Yayıncılık ve Medya Yatırım Hizmetleri A.Ş. on 30 July 2018) and entirely owned by Yeşildağ. The page lists Yeşildağ as chair of the board and Ahmet Bayraktutar as chair of the executive board, and the group’s data-protection page shows T Medya Yatırım Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. with paid-in capital of TRY 988.24 million and no shareholders. A current shareholder filing was not obtained for this review, and no change of ownership in 2024–2026 was found.

The group was assembled under Ethem Sancak, who according to MOM bought Güneş, Akşam and Sky360 from the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund in 2013 and the Star Media Group, including Star and 24 TV, in 2014. On 17 August 2017 Bianet relayed a Medyaradar report that the group had been sold to Hasan Yeşildağ. On 12 September 2017 Borsanın Gündemi reported that the Competition Board had ruled that the acquisition of Es Yayıncılık by Zeki Yeşildağ was not subject to approval.

Sancak was elected to the ruling AKP’s Central Decision and Executive Board in May 2017, and was quoted as having once said that he fell in love with Erdoğan the moment he first saw him. MOM says that Zeki Yeşildağ has been active in politics since 1989, including as a member of the AKP’s board and of the Istanbul city council, and that the outlets he acquired reportedly already followed the AKP line. Bianet attributes the AKP board membership to Hasan Yeşildağ and describes Zeki as an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality council member.

The mastheads name the following operating companies. T Medya Yatırım Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. is the owner of Güneş, Alem, whose editor-in-chief is Gözde Yörükoğlu Ersu, and Platin, whose editor-in-chief is Bahar Selin Akgün. 24 TV is broadcast by Dinamik Radyo Televizyon A.Ş., TV4 by Star Medya Ajans A.Ş. and Lig Radyo by Bilişim Radyo Televizyon Yayıncılık Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. Akşam’s masthead lists the roles of editor-in-chief and publisher’s representative without naming the holders.

Source of funding and budget

No financial statements for the group or its outlets were found. The group’s finances were reported as strained in 2019. Turkish Minute, citing Medyaradar, attributed the closure of the Star and Güneş print editions to financial strain after the AKP’s defeat in the March 2019 local elections, and reported that the Istanbul municipality had reportedly stopped paying TRY 10 million a month for “advertising expenses” in August. BirGün reported in August 2019, citing Odatv, that 130 printing-house staff had been dismissed, and Medyascope reported dismissals at Akşam, Star and 24 TV on 27 August 2019 without naming its source. Medyascope quoted Sibel Güneş, secretary general of the Journalists Society of Türkiye (TGC), as saying that government-linked advertising and support had not been enough to keep the titles running.

Among public sources, Kenan Şener’s analysis for Duvar ranked Akşam third among 26 national newspapers by public-bank advertising space in 2020, behind Türkgün and Sabah, without giving Akşam’s figure. In January 2020 the Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel alleged that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality had paid TRY 5.76 million to the Türkmedya group in 2017–2019, the third-largest amount after Turkuvaz-affiliated and Albayrak-owned outlets.

Editorial independence

The outlets in the group are known for following the AKP’s line, according to journalists interviewed for this report in May 2026.

No publishing principles, editorial charter or oversight body independent of the owners was found for the other outlets.

AI and digital policy

No policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) was found on the outlets’ pages, and the group’s cookie, privacy and data-protection notices do not mention it. In February 2024 Alem FM launched a Sunday programme, “Neredeyse Gerçek”, presented by an AI character named Meltem. Webtekno reported that Alem FM’s broadcast coordinator, Fatih Yıldırım, described it as produced entirely by AI, including the scripts, voice and visuals.

Classification rationale

Türk Medya is classified CaPr on SMM’s assessment of political capture through private ownership. The assessment rests on the owner’s political roles reported by MOM and his brother’s close ties to President Erdoğan, the group’s origin in outlets held until 2017 by Ethem Sancak, who was elected to the AKP’s executive board that year, journalists’ first-hand reports that the outlets follow the AKP’s line, and the absence of any oversight body independent of the owners other than Alem’s Press Council membership. The evidence is limited: no independent coverage study, regulatory finding or Press Council decision on the group’s outlets was identified, the ownership record is dated December 2021, and the group’s budget and the share of state-linked income are not public.

October 2026