24 July 2015
Kadri Gürsel

Milliyet Daily Newspaper dismissed journalist Kadri Gürsel who was allegedly accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Suruç Explosion.

Link: Bianet

Milliyet explained the dismissal “Gürsel doesn’t comply with our codes of conduct and he contrasts with our responsibility and perception of publishing.”

Milliyet announced the decision from its website with signature of “Human Resources Management”.

According to the news websites soL Haber and T24, the reason of dismissal was Kadri Gürsel's tweet:

Kadri Gürsel: @KadriGursel

“It’s really embarrassing for foreign leaders to call a person who is number one responsible of ISIS terror in Turkey and offer their condolences.”

Who is Kadri Gürsel?

Kadri Gürsel is a columnist for Turkish daily Milliyet since 2007. He’s also a contributing writer to Al-Monitor website. His main focuses are Turkish foreign policy, international affairs, Turkey’s Kurdish question, as well as Turkey’s evolving political Islam and its national and regional impacts.

Before becoming full-time columnist in the fall of 2008, he was in charge of the foreign news desk of Milliyet as editor.  Beginning from 1999, he fulfilled this task for 9 years.

He joined Milliyet publishing group as the vice editor in chief of a newly launched weekly news magazine called “Artı-Haber”, in 1997.

Kadri Gürsel also worked for the Agence France-Presse for nearly five years, between 1993-97, as İstanbul based correspondent.

While in the AFP, he was kidnapped in the Turkish south-east by the PKK in 1995.

He narrated his misadventures in the hands of the PKK, which endured 26 days in different locations of the mountainous south-east, in his book entitled “Dağdakiler” (Those of the Mountains) published in 1996. The book contains first hand observations and analysis on the PKK’s guerillas daily life, armed struggle and their mindset.

Kadri Gürsel is in journalism since 1986. He worked for several daily newspapers, including Cumhuriyet, and weekly news magazines before joining AFP.

He is also the Chairman of the Turkish National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI).

Kadri Gürsel was born in Istanbul, in 1961.

This publication has been produced within the project European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, co-funded by the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page