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Crushed under restrictions, young Turkish journalists find freedom in print media

A new brand of literary magazines that present thinly veiled messages of popular resistance against increasing social, cultural and political pressure from the government have so far evaded censorship and are delighting more readers every day.
People walk past by a kiosk in central Istanbul, Turkey November 2, 2015. A jubilant President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday cast the return of Turkey's Islamist-rooted AK Party to single-party rule as a vote for stability that the world must respect, but opponents fear it heralds growing authoritarianism and deeper polarisation. The newspaper headline on top reads: "AK Party on its own" REUTERS/Murad Sezer  - RTX1UE7G
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The first time I saw Ot Dergi, or Weed Magazine, was when it was in the hands of teenagers who had just finished their recycling jobs in the hipster Cihangir district of Istanbul in July 2013 — a month after the Gezi protests. When asked what was so amusing, one of them said, “It is the weed, but not the joint — the writing here.” And he started reading a part of an old Turkish poem about living with dignity and hard work. One of them said, “We are not leftists, rich or interested in protest, but there is truth in some of these lines. Life on the streets is about resilience.”

That was my introduction to the hybrid form of literature and art magazines growing in Turkey. In early 2013, they were seen as marginal. Today, about 20 of them are in the market and still growing in popularity. Avci Onurkan, editor of Fil (Elephant) and Yeni Harman Magazine, told Al-Monitor, “It is almost impossible to calculate the exact number of sales of print media, magazines or newspapers.” However, some of these magazines are now selling over 50,000 copies per month, higher than the circulation of several dailies.

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