Açık Radyo (Open Radio), which went on air on November 13, 1995, is a “regional” radio station which broadcasts to the metropolitan Istanbul area and its environs.
It was founded as a private company as required by the Turkish Law on Radio and TV Broadcasting, but nevertheless functions like a not-for-profit media organization.
Açık Radyo is a collective, which has 62 partners holding almost equal shares with the shareholders owning “share certificates”, composed of marked and numbered lithographs titled “Tughras” (Royal Ottoman seals) (re)designed by the late great painter Abidin Dino.
The inscription on the back of each “Tughra” states:
“This is to certify that the support you have provided for the founding of a free, independent, democratic, dignified, compassionate, and out-of-the-ordinary radio station, which will hopefully lead to the creation of similar projects in the near future.”
It must be stressed primarily that Açık Radyo is not dependent on any interest group or any capital group. Needless to say, it is completely independent from the state, too. The radio station is only dependent on the principles of pluralist democracy, the rule of law, and the protection and promotion of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms. Thus, it is an independent medium. It can be considered as one of the rare independent institutions in the Turkish media scene, which is under increasing pressure from both the state and from the concentration of ownership of financial and power centers.
(Programme guide for 56th broadcast period)
The Motto
“Open Radio is open to all the sounds, colors, and vibrations of the universe.”
