açıklaMAK is the root, while -MAK is gerund. Açıklamak means to explain, reveal etc. -(ı)yor, -(i)yor, -(u)yor, -(ü)yor are suffices for present continuos tense. We choose one of them in accordance with "küçük ünlü uyumu" and "büyük ünlü uyumu" Thus we have (O) açıklıyor = he is explaining And if we will add the suffices for subjects, we can conjugate it as: (ben) açıklıyorUM = i am explaining (sen) açıklıyorSUN = you are explaining (o) açıklıyor = he/she/it is explaining (biz) açıklıyorUZ = we are explaining (siz) açıklıyorSUNUZ = you are explaining (onlar) açıklıyorLAR = they are explaining As we said before, açıklamak means to explain. If we will make it passive, we should say açıklaNmak = to be explained And if we will remove the gerund suffix (açıklan) and then add (-ıyor), we have açıklanıyor

Dilek has explained the situation very well; however, i thought it might be helpful to add a couple of things, just in case. açık- clear açıkla (açık-la) - explain, clarify (imparative, active form) açıklamak (açık-la-mak) - to explain, to clarify açıklıyor (açık-la-(ı)yor > açıkl - ıyor) - He/she expains (Conjugated active form of 3rd person, present tense) açıklan (açık-la-n) - be explained, be clarifed (imparative, passive form, although it's not used in Turkish) açıklanmak (açık-la-n-mak) - to be explained, to be clarified açıklanıyor (açık-la-n-(ı)yor) - It is being clarified (Conjugated pasive form of 3rd person, present tense) active: etken pasive: edilgen