Now living in exile, Turkish newspaper executive, Abdülhamit Bilici is coming to Dayton as part of the Dayton Council on World Affairs Speakers Series.
Bilici's talk, entitled Freedom of Press and Democracy, will outline recent political turmoil and government oppression of the media in Turkey.
In this interview with WYSO, he provides some details on what has happened to media outlets in Turkey and how he's dealing with his exile.
Biographical information about Abdülhamit Bilici provided by the Dayton Council on World Affairs:
Before leaving the country, Bilici served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Zaman, the largest daily newspaper in Turkey. He also was Chief Executive Officer of its English-language version, Today's Zaman. Bilici also served as general director of Cihan News Agency and editor of Aksiyon Weekly Magazine.
Starting his career at Zaman Daily as a correspondent, Bilici worked as an editor at Aksiyon Magazine between 1995-1997, as foreign news editor at Zaman Daily between 1998-2001, as general editor at Zaman Daily between 2002-2008 and as general director of Cihan News Agency and as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Zaman Newspaper and is a columnist for Zaman and Today’s Zaman dailies.
Mr. Bilici will be speaking to the Dayton community on May 1 about Freedom of the Press and Democracy as part of the Dayton Council on World Affairs speakers series.
The Dayton Council on World Affairs is celebrating 70 years of educating our community on why World Affairs matter and how to become a better global citizen. To learn more about this and other upcoming Dayton Council on World Affairs events, visit their website at DCOWA.com.