Tributes pour in after veteran journalist Şükran Soner dies

Şükran Soner’s death prompted a broad wave of condolences from Turkey’s journalism and labor communities, reflecting the range of causes associated with her nearly six-decade career.

Soner joined Cumhuriyet as a reporter in 1966 and later became one of the newspaper’s veteran writers and a board member of the Cumhuriyet Foundation. She also made history as the first woman to serve as general president of the Turkish Journalists’ Union.

Her work focused heavily on labor and education. She prepared dedicated pages on workers and schools from an early age, while also taking part in trade union and civil society campaigns. She played an active role in establishing and managing organizations including the Human Rights Association, the Friends of the Islands Association and the Foundation for Economic and Social History.

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We are deeply saddened by the loss of Şükran Soner, who went down in our 74-year union history as its first woman president.

The Turkish Journalists’ Union said Soner had been its first female president in the organization’s 74-year history and described her loss as deeply painful. The Turkish Journalists’ Association and the Contemporary Journalists’ Association also highlighted her long service to journalism and her role as a voice for workers.

Labor representatives and politicians offered similar tributes. Özkan Atar of Birleşik Metal-İş said Soner used her writing in favor of labor and democracy and helped make workers’ and unions’ struggles heard. Other messages remembered her commitment to democracy, human rights, justice and the principles of Cumhuriyet.

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Throughout her 60-year journalistic life, she used her pen in favor of labor and democracy. She made the voices of us workers and the union movement heard and kept the memory of labor.