Ekrem Dumanlı is the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, one of Turkey’s largest newspapers with a daily circulation of approximately 1 million. He was detained by police on Dec. 14, 2014, apparently in a move against Zaman's critical editorial policy vis-à-vis a major corruption scandal involving high-level government officials. After 80 hours of detention, he was released pending trial. Dumanlı stands accused of being part of an “armed terrorist organization” based on two columns and a news report published in Zaman.

Born in 1964 in Turkey’s Yozgat province, Dumanlı graduated from the Faculty of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul University in 1987. He started his journalism career as a correspondent at Zaman’s culture and arts desk in 1993. Afterwards, he became the editor of the same desk and later on the managing editor for the daily. In 1997, Dumanlı moved to the United States to further his studies in the field of the media and earned his MA degree from Emerson College in Boston.

Dumanlı returned to Turkey in 2001 and assumed his current role as Zaman editor-in-chief. Under his leadership Zaman has become a major independent voice in Turkish media promoting democracy, European Union-oriented reforms and constructive foreign policy.

During his career, Mr. Dumanlı has authored 12 books on a wide range of topics, including politics, journalism, literature, cinema and theater. He is a member of the World Association of Newspapers, the Writers Association of Turkey and the Beşiktaş soccer fan club. Married with four children, he currently lives in Istanbul.