The Greek daily newspaper “Apoyevmatini,” published in Istanbul since 1925, will close because of financial woes.
The newspaper, published in Greek, intended to keep the language alive among Greeks in Turkey and inform the small community of all important news.
Owner Mihail Vasiliadis announced the closure on Monday and let the 35 employees of the paper go.
The newspaper has survived with the financial contribution of the Greek government and the Greek community residing in Turkey.
However, the newspaper suffered from Greece’s economic crisis and the decreasing number of Istanbul-based Greek residents, who are not more than 1,700.
“They say it is necessary to have a high circulation rate to receive advertisements. There are only 605 Greek families in Istanbul. I sell 600 copies daily and reach almost 99 percent of them. However, that is not enough,” Vasiliadis said.
Apoyevmatini had reached a circulation of 30,000 copies in the past.