Internet numbers are unverifiable, as website traffic is not yet independently audited in Turkey. Nevertheless Guldemir is optimistic. But the Internet news sites are not without their critics. One such is Ragip Duran, the correspondent in Turkey for the French daily Liberation , and a lecturer on media ethics at Istanbul's Yeditepe University. Conjecture dressed up as fact, gossip dressed up as news, editorialising, not checking facts.
Mistakes tend to get replicated.
The Turkish Press Council announced at the end of February that nearly 3,000 journalists had been sacked since the beginning of the year. Among them are prominent columnists and editors, many of whom are finding a new home on the worldwide web. Ali Erginsoy is a freelance journalist specialising in Turkish affairs. The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, politcal and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York.