Zeynep Sentek

Zeynep Sentek is a Turkish journalist specialising in investigations, human rights, workers' rights, financial corruption, and the environment.

She also coordinates The Black Sea's Turkey investigations, and is the liaison for its work with the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network, where she is also a board member.

Zeynep holds an MA in Conflict and Security from the University of Sussex in the UK, and has a PhD in political science from Heidelberg University in Germany.

Basic information

Name

Zeynep Sentek

Title

Investigative journalist

Expertise

Human rights, workers' rights, financial corruption, and the environment.

Country

Portugal

City

Lisbon

Zeynep Sentek

Website

The Black Sea

Links

Supported projects

Forever Lobbying Project

Environment
Industry

BRUSSELS - Over a year, a team of 46 journalists in 16 countries investigated an ongoing massive, orchestrated lobbying and disinformation campaign led by the PFAS industry and their allied organisations to water down a proposal to ban “forever chemicals” in the EU and shift the burden of environmental pollution onto society, threatening the economic equilibrium of European nations.

Under the Surface: The Untold Crisis of European Groundwater

Climate
Data Journalism
Environment
Healthcare

PARIS / BRUSSELS / MADRID – Groundwater is the ecosystem Europe has always been able to rely on, and grew to consider an infinite resource. This cross-border investigation reveals that the current state of matters is dire: our water is disappearing and what remains is facing near-irreversible pollution.

Stranded: Impact of Asbestos in Maritime Industry

Environment
Healthcare
Industry

ALIAĞA – Asbestos, that is especially hard to track in ships, often causes lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. The team investigated several shipbreaking yards, including Kılıçlar in Turkey, where workers are exposed to the deadly substance without adequate protection.

Istanbul to Illegality: Visa-Free Serbia a Hub for EU-Bound Turks

Migration

ISTANBUL/BELGRADE - This investigation uncovers that young Turkish citizens are increasingly using the Balkan route as a transit point to enter the EU illegally. The growing trend is due to crumbling purchasing power, high unemployment, and tense political environment in the country.

Black Trail

Climate
Environment
Industry

LONDON - The shipping industry is central to the global economy. But among the world's biggest polluters and tax avoiders. Its emissions, from the dirtiest fuel-oil on earth, are larger than those of Germany, and have a serious impact on climate change.

The Toxic Valley

Environment
Healthcare
Industry

DILOVASI - The Toxic Valley project looks into the environmental consequences of industrialisation in Turkey, and reveals a pattern of chemical dumping and polluting that has led to a widespread health crisis in the Kocaeli region, the most heavily industrialised area of the country.

The Malta Files: How the smallest EU country became a haven for global tax avoidance.

Corruption

VALLETTA - The Mediterranean republic of Malta operates a tax system where companies pay the lowest tax on profits in the EU - only five per cent. Over the last three months, journalistic network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) dug into over 150,000 documents that show how international companies take advantage of this system, using Malta as a pirate base for tax avoidance in the EU.

Mentor for

Malta: Increased vessel traffic and lax air pollution monitoring lead to health concerns

Corruption
Environment
Transport

VALLETTA — In Malta, residents of a historic town are fighting emissions from a neighbouring shipyard. At the center of their struggle is the world's largest shipping company. 'Particulate matters' investigation looks into this and proves that more asthma cases are diagnosed in the district where the shipyard is located.