The Turkish press sector has been in great trouble recently. Both in the raw material, being totally dependent on the newspapers and book papers, and the exorbitant increases in exchange rates forced the sector. While some local and national newspapers were forced to pause their publications, some publishing houses stopped their repression. The existing paper factories were either withdrawn from production by being closed or made into museums. There is only one thing to say: paper is an indigenous production of foreign dependence on the paper!
Newspaper paper prices averaged 600 dollars a few years ago, today it has risen to 900 dollars. As if this was not enough, the dollar rate rose from 2 liras to 6.20. Therefore, paper prices have increased almost three times in the 3-4 year period. After the price of paper increased by 3 times due to the dollar, some newspapers completely went to digital and put an end to the written publishing life. Some of them stopped the publication for 3 days due to paper troubles and there were those who closed their attachments.
National Opinion Leader Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan's establishment Balikesir SEKA Paper Factory and Izmit SEKA Paper Factory, welcomed Turkey's newspapers and books for years the need for paper. The Balıkesir SEKA Paper Factory was privatized in 2003 and the Kocaeli SEKA Paper Factory, which was established in 1934, was transformed into a museum in 2005 with a city park. Today, Turkey's newspapers and books about the case entirely dependent on foreign paper.
Turkey Publishers' Union President Kenan Kocaturk: "Domestic production should be encouraged to urgently paper. We need to reduce the dependence on paper on the outside." he said.
Turkey Journalists' Union: "Should the privatization process started and stopped our well-established institution like SEKA Turkey should become re-produce the paper itself." statement said.
Seven media companies operating in Izmir have decided not to publish newspapers on Sundays. It was stated that the decision to buy was due to paper shortage.