Özgür Gündem was a pro-Kurdish daily. Ever since it was founded in 1992 the Turkish authorities regarded it as a mouthpiece for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), even though it also published reports that were critical of the party. It was banned several times and frequently changed its name. It claimed that in the 20 years since it was first founded 20 of its journalists had been murdered at work. In August 2016 it was banned for spreading PKK propaganda and many members of its staff were arrested.