On January, 2011, Turkish ruling party brought in new regulations that tightened up licence requirements and imposed 24 years age sublimit to alcohol sales at events and activities appealing to young people “for the sake of protecting the youth”. Interestingly enough, the minimum age for getting a firearm licence is 21 in Turkey. Last year around this time, the state council reversed the judgment; yet the intentions of the conservative ruling party (Justice and Development Party) had severely questioned.The name of a bi-monthly magazine, initiated by couple of communication and media students with the help of faculty staff and the support of the university (Istanbul Bilgi Uni.) had been chosen as a reaction to this incident. The students taking part in this magazine, Eksiyirmidort (means “under 24”), presented themselves as young people who are entitled to carry firearms, being conscripted, but who does not know how to drink in the eyes of the state. In a short time Eksiyirmidort became successful and acquired critical and objective attitude to the mainstream media, politics and public discourse in Turkey.
Now, Istanbul Bilgi University, which is a private university demanding thousands of Euros from its students, is considering halting the financial support it has allocated for Eksiyirmidort. It should be noted that independence does matter for such magazines, and getting funded by the University is a significant means to maintain independence. Considering that the country’s mainstream media channels are under a huge political pressure, I can’t help but suspecting the role of magazine’s opposition and criticisms toward the ruling party and its discourse in this decision. Setting this aside, as The CEU Weekly we support and stand by Eksiyirmidort and condemn Istanbul Bilgi University’s policy choices in this regard.
Yusuf Yuksekdag
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