Financial boost for minority media

Newspapers run by members of the Armenian, Greek and Jewish communities are to receive extra state funds thanks to an affirmative action scheme.

The Press Advertising Authority (BİK) has decided to raise the funding offered to such outlets by 25%, or to the tune of around TL 250,000. The decision covers only minorities recognized under the Treaty of Lausanne, which defined the status of Turkey's shrinking minorities 95 years ago.

The yearly financial support requires newspapers to be at least three years old and publishing either in Turkish or in the language of the community they cater to on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.

The BİK has allocated funds amounting to more than TL 1.4 million to minority newspapers since 2011.

The newspapers, many of whom have only limited circulation, were once barred from publishing commercials as part of the state-run press, driving many into a financial bottleneck having relied on these for revenue. A 2012 regulation paved the way for them to publish commercials, but they still struggle, making government cash assistance necessary.