Cumhuriyet is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the Freedom of Press Prize by Reporters Without Borders in 2015 and the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2016. It is considered Turkey's newspaper of record. It has been known for its stance of publishing anti-Islamist titles and news at least since the 1960s.

Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognises the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.