Can Dündar

Can Dündar — Biography

Can Dündar (born 16 June 1961 in Ankara) is a Turkish investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and columnist. After working for several newspapers and magazines from 1979 onward, studying journalism in London and earning a graduate degree in political science at METU, he drew wide attention with his 1993 documentary "Sarı Zeybek," on Atatürk's final days, and later with his reporting on the 1998 Susurluk scandal.

Appointed editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper in February 2015, Dündar was arrested in November 2015 after the paper published a report alleging that Turkey's national intelligence agency had shipped weapons to armed groups in Syria. He was acquitted of espionage and attempting to overthrow the government but was convicted in connection with obtaining and publishing classified state documents, receiving a combined sentence of 27 years and six months.

Dündar left for Germany in 2016 while the case was under appeal and has lived in exile there since, despite an outstanding arrest warrant against him in Turkey. He continues his journalism as editor-in-chief of the #ÖZGÜRÜZ web radio project run by Correctiv, and has received honors from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Leipzig Media Foundation for his press-freedom work; he was also among the nominees for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.