Link: Bianet

Milliyet Daily Newspaper dismissed four journalists on August 28th: Meral Tamer, Mehveş Evin, Alper İzbul and Semra Pelek. Milliyet Daily had dismissed Kemal Göktaş, Evin Demirtaş and Sertaç Koç the day before in Milliyet’s Ankara bureau and also laid off Kadri Gürsel in July, 2015.

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Meral Tamer graduated from Deutsche Schule in İstanbul and after İstanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture. Tamer started the profession as a journalist at Yeni Ortam Newspaper in 1974. She worked in Sabah and Cumhuriyet Daily. Meral Tamer has been writing at Milliyet Daily since 1990. Tamer also had a book named “Aşkolsun Kanser” in which she told her experiences with cancer.

Mehveş Evin tweeted: “Milliyet Daily dismissed me and I don’t know why. No to subdue, yes to write!” Evin worked at newspapers like Sabah, Yeni Yüzyıl, Akşam and magazines like Aktüel, Liberal Bakış and NTV. She has been writing at Milliyet since 2009. Evin was granted Turkey-Armenia Journalism Award.

Semra Pelek tweeted: “I am dismissed from Milliyet. It’s okay for me.” Pelek told bianet: ”We already cannot work as journalists under great pressure.” Semra Pelek graduated from İstanbul University’s Journalism Department. She worked at bianet, Deutsche Welle, Magazine Tempo and Democrat News. Pelek has been writing at Milliyet for four years.

Alper İzbul tweeted: “I am dismissed from Milliyet Daily. Let’s hope for the best.”

Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) reacted to the dismissals of four journalists. TGS made a statement and reminded that  there was allegedly a list of 25 people who will be dismissed: “As Journalists’ Union of Turkey, we call Millliyet Daily to regain consciousness and to recall the four journalists. “As long as we are together, we can put an end to the imposition of bosses and dismissals. That’s why, we call for all journalists to get together under the same roof of TGS.” Milliyet Daily showed "necessity for savings and cost increases."