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A wave of dismissals has hit Sozcu TV, a prominent opposition news channel, following a significant change in top management. After columnist Yilmaz Ozdil took charge of the institution, 14 journalists had their contracts terminated.
The list of those dismissed includes Editor-in-Chief Ozgur Cakmakci, Broadcast Coordinator Hakan Durmus, News Managers Emel Okaygun and Dora Menguc, and Istanbul News Manager Cem Ozkeskin. Several anchors, reporters, and cameramen were also let go.
Cakmakci sent a farewell message to his colleagues, highlighting the channel's rapid rise in ratings despite external pressures.
"We have reached the end of the road we walked together for nearly three years," Cakmakci wrote. "We became one of the most trusted television brands in the country in a short time. We reached places no television has achieved in the ratings so quickly."
Cakmakci emphasized that the channel grew despite "political pressures, unfair competition, blackouts, and economic difficulties," adding that while they were fined dozens of times, their reporting was never refuted.
Following the shake-up, journalist Ipek Ozbey has been appointed as the new editor-in-chief of Sozcu TV, while Sozcu newspaper columnist Guney Ozturk has taken over as general manager.
The secular opposition channel was known for its critical approach to the ongoing "terror-free Türkiye" talks between the government and the PKK terrorist group. Following the changes, it is alleged that the channel's broadcasting policy will become even harder.
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