ISTANBUL — A harried man in his 50s walks the narrow streets around Istiklal Avenue on Istanbul’s European side, carrying bundles of neatly folded newspapers in his arms. His name is Sebahattin Esen and, although he does not speak Greek, he is the longest-serving distributor of Turkey’s oldest Greek newspaper, Apoyevmatini (“Afternoon”).
The newspaper is aimed at Istanbul’s Greek community, known as Rûm, and has been in circulation for 94 years. Today, Istanbul is home to some 600 Greek families, most of whom receive a copy of the newspaper, says Michalis Vasiliadis, its publisher.
Launched in July 1925, Apoyevmatini was the second newspaper to appear in the new Republic of Turkey, after the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet. Five days a week he covered the politics of Turkey and Greece, as well as events in Turkey’s Greek community. Along with more difficult news, readers can find announcements of baptisms, graduations and obituaries.
With the advent of online journalism, the newspaper also launched an electronic version in 2007. “We have people reading it in Australia, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, France, everywhere,” says Minas, the son of Vasiliadis, editor-in-chief of the newspaper. . “We have young Greek-Americans who, even though they don’t speak much Greek, buy Apoyevmatini online to show their fathers who lived in Istanbul.”
But the Greek community is not the only one to show an attachment to the publication. When Apoyevmatini was on the verge of closing its doors following the 2010 financial crisis, the Turkish-speaking community stepped in to help.
Turkish researcher Efe Kerem Sozeri saw a video about the inevitable closure of the newspaper and launched a campaign that gained the newspaper 300 new subscribers, all Turkish. They could not read the Greek newspaper but wanted to support it. “It was very touching,” Minas remembers.
The future of the newspaper is still uncertain. The number of Greeks living in Istanbul is falling and press freedom in the country has “rapidly deteriorated” in recent years, according to the European Parliament. Still, Minas is determined to keep the publication alive. “I will do everything in my power. After all, Apoyevmatini is part of Istanbul’s cultural history.”
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Editor-in-chief Minas Vasiliadis begins work on the next day’s issue. Father and son now work from home because they cannot afford to rent an office. | All photographs by Demetrios Ioannou for POLITICO
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The first page is waiting to be sent to the printer.
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Black ink is ready to replenish the press during printing.
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A framed portion of the first page of the first edition of Apoyevmatini, published on July 12, 1925. In its early years, the name was written in both the Greek and Arabic alphabets.
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After carefully checking the plates for any inaccuracies, the shop foreman takes them down the stairs to start the printing press.
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Eral Özsoysal, the foreman of the printing house, checks every detail before the plate arrives on the printing press.
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The presses publish the day’s issue.
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İsmet Özgüney counts the copies before starting deliveries. He has been practicing this profession for over 60 years.
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One of the few newsstands in Istanbul to offer Apoyevmatini. It gets real estate in a rack with other minority newspapers.
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Apoyevmatini is one of the rare newspapers not to have access to its entire archives. Its previous owner sold much of it to a collector in an effort to keep the business afloat.
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Subscribers trust the newspaper’s delivery drivers so much that they often leave their homes or offices unlocked for door-to-office service.