Cumhuriyet

Cumhuriyet (Turkish pronunciation: [d͡ʒum.huː.ɾi.ˈjet], The Republic) is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. Headquartered in Istanbul, the newspaper has also offices in Ankara and İzmir.

Established on 7 May 1924 by journalist Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, a confidant of the Turkish Republic's founder Atatürk, the newspaper has subscribed to a staunchly secular, republic course. In the past closely affiliated with the Kemalist Republican People's Party (CHP), the center-left newspaper turned to a more independent course over time, while still advocating democracy, social liberal values and free markets.

Since the AKP's rise to power, Cumhuriyet has been particularly renowned for its impartial, occasionally courageous journalism. In 2015 it was awarded the Freedom of Press Prize by international NGO Reporters Without Borders for making a stand against the government's mounting pressure. Shortly thereafter, Cumhuriyet's editor-in-chief Can Dündar and the newspaper's Ankara representative Erdem Gül were arrested facing sentences up to life imprisonment. During the last decade, the newspaper's staff has also been physically attacked, with the 2008 molotov attack against Cumhuriyet's headquarters in Istanbul's Şişli district being particularly significant.

Republic Day (Turkey)

The Republic Day of Turkey (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Bayramı) is one of the public holidays in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, commemorating the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. It lasts 35 hours, starting each year at 1:00 pm on 28 October.

The holiday commemorates the events of 29 October 1923, when Mustafa Kemal declared that Turkey was henceforth a republic. Turkey had de facto been a republic since 23 April 1920, the date of the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, but the official confirmation of this fact came only three-and-a-half years later. On 29 October 1923, the status of the nation as a republic was declared and its official name was proclaimed to be Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ("the Republic of Turkey"). After that, a vote was held in the Grand National Assembly, and Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic of Turkey.

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