Dear readers, it’s no secret that independent, critical journalism has faced increasing pressure in Turkey. This trend has only deepened following the May 21, 2026, court ruling that removed the leadership of the nation’s main opposition party.
In light of recent developments, we are publishing our Manifesto and Code of Ethics below, as well as permanently on our About page. Regardless of the political climate, Turkey recap will continue to produce balanced journalism in the public interest.
Thank you for your support and thank you for reading us.
Our manifesto
“Fact, used as propaganda, is all but impossible to disentangle from the politics of its original transmission.” — Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
At Turkey recap, we believe the world is this way for a reason—perhaps many—and journalists must help people understand the present moment through facts, not persuasion.
We serve the public interest by relaying events and official statements with relevant context and fact-based analysis so readers can reach their own conclusions.
In contrast, propaganda selects a conclusion and builds a path for readers to get there, often by manipulating information to serve political and/or private interests.
Separating facts from ideology has been a challenge throughout history. Failing to do so, we believe, causes irreversible damage and corrodes the foundations of civic discourse.
After decades in mainstream newsrooms, we’ve learned that operating firmly independent media requires not only a journalistic process that represents all sides of a story but also a business model aligned with delivering trustworthy information to the public.
Our mission is to produce balanced, verified and clear Turkey news coverage in both the English and Turkish languages. To achieve that, we’re creating self-sustaining digital platforms accountable only to our readers—free of political influence and financial support from special interest groups.
Turkey recap is independent because it is reader-supported. Each contribution is deeply appreciated and helps us keep developing our coverage, while proving that fact-based media models can thrive in the digital age.
Our code of ethics
Online, all information looks the same. Live news and lies passing as news arrive as equals in synonymous social media frames. Digital media has flattened the playing field, removing the costs that once barred or exposed low-value productions. Now everyone looks legit on Substack, Spotify, TikTok or whatever comes next.
We’re told it’s the democratization of information, and there are upsides to this. But, as we all know, there are also downsides when anyone can claim to be a journalist, and any company can claim to make news—especially if well-financed by private interests.
So, in this media moment, what’s the difference between an influencer, a propagandist and a journalist? We get this question a lot and the answer is simple: Transparency.
Journalists disclose conflicts of interest and sponsorships. They are also transparent about their financing and business practices. Influencers don’t have to disclose anything about their income sources while propagandists deflect or avoid such inquiries.
A more complete answer is that journalism operates under a code of ethics. It’s a profession and, when done professionally, it’s a systematic process of collecting and distributing verified information about current events in the public interest.
The Turkey recap code of ethics fully adheres to international media industry standards established by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The SPJ code of ethics guides our core principles—applicable to all staff and freelance contributors—and the following points represent our stances on additional issues in this digital media era:
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Turkey recap contributors do not use AI to generate text or fact-check news content. We believe journalists must write their own damn text, and accountability for errors rests solely with the people who publish them.
That said, Turkey recap contributors do use AI for assistance in editorial tasks, such as translation, transcription, research and grammar checks—a standard practice in many newsrooms, according to a November 2025 Reuters Institute survey.
Multimedia AI use
Our visual, audio and video content is made with Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva and Riverside, all of which use integrated AI tools for image, video, audio and transcript production. Regardless, no multimedia news output can be augmented to misrepresent the original content.
Conflicts of interest
If a Turkey recap contributor has a real or perceived conflict of interest—including financial or personal—they must disclose it to our editorial staff and also to our audience in every report where the conflict of interest is relevant.
Paid content, ads and sponsorships
We don’t produce paid content. Our news coverage is guided and produced solely by our editorial team and is independent of special interest influence and financing. In cases where ads or sponsorships are present in our news products, the ads or sponsorships will be clearly labeled as such.
Funding transparency
Core funding for Turkey recap comes from reader subscriptions. Additional funding from non-governmental institutions finances some of our reporting projects, which are labeled as beneficiaries of financial support.
Our Turkish-language website, Stüdyo recap, benefits from capacity-building grants from non-governmental democracy endowments on a project basis.
In all funding scenarios, Turkey recap maintains an absolute editorial firewall, meaning no institutional funder, grant-maker or private subscriber has any influence over our story selection, editorial decisions or news output.
Representative sourcing
There are at least three sides to every story: the narrative, the counter-narrative and what’s actually going on. Our news reporting aims to represent all relevant actors.
Reported feature stories must include at least one female source and at least one attempt to obtain comments from relevant state or government officials.
All news output must aim for diversity and gender balance in sources to the fullest possible degree with the understanding that state officials will most often decline to comment (which we include in our reporting).
In case it needs to be said: We don’t pay for sources or information.
Anonymous sources
Turkey recap collects news from a variety of sources. Because of the political climate in Turkey, many sources don’t want to be identified. We grant anonymity under two conditions:
When there is a defined security risk
When a source is vetted, credible and has direct knowledge of the subject matter being covered, but cannot divulge information under their official capacity.
In both cases, Turkey recap editors can request source identities for verification purposes.
Copyright
We don’t plagiarize. Turkey recap contributors link to original news sources whenever possible and we expect the same from people using our work.
Corrections
Accountability means admitting when we are wrong. If a Turkey recap contributor makes a factual error, we will swiftly correct the reporting and add a clear, transparent correction notice to the original text explaining what was changed and why.
Discrimination policy
Turkey recap has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of discrimination or hate speech in news output and between colleagues.
Hate speech expressed in political rhetoric within news reports must be clearly labeled as discriminatory. For example, as anti-refugee, anti-LGBT, etc.
We are not a PR company
We don’t favor any political party or special interest. We are not a PR company.
Public figures and politicians cannot review quotes before publication. We are not a PR company.
Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Get in touch at info@turkeyrecap.com.
Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.
We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.
✅ Typos verify our humanity. All Turkey recap news output is created and fact-checked by people. Find our AI policy in our Code of Ethics.
Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief
Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor
Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent
Hilmi Hacaloğlu, Political correspondent
Gözde Ocak, Stüdyo recap editor
Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager