Ceylan Yeğinsu is a Turkish-British journalist and currently a staff reporter for The New York Times.
Yeğinsu began her journalism career in 2008 as a reporter and editor for Hurriyet Daily News, where she covered politics, culture, business and sport. She also ran a weekly column on issues of gender equality in Turkey. In 2011, she received a master's degree in Digital Media at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and was awarded the Brigid O'Hara-Forster Fellowship. As a freelance reporter and multimedia journalist in New York and Istanbul, she worked for publications including The Atlantic, The Economist, Huffington Post, International Business Times.[1]
In 2013, Yeğinsu joined the ' Istanbul Bureau. In September 2014, she ran a front-page story on ISIL's recruitment of Turks in the Hacıbayram neighborhood of Ankara.[2] Her report was heavily criticized by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who called the story "shameless, ignoble, treason."[3] Yeğinsu was subsequently attacked by the newspaper Star and other pro-government media,[4] and received multiple death threats. The resulting intimidation campaign against Yeğinsu forced her to temporarily leave the country.[5] The directors of Reporters Without Borders, Article 19 and the English PEN published an open letter, reminding President Erdoğan of journalists significant role in a democracy and their protection in both Turkish and international law. The U.S. State Department criticized Turkey for these attempts of intimidation and threat.[6]