Ahmet Altan
Encyclopedia
Biography
He was born 1950 in AnkaraAnkara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
to the writer Çetin Altan
Çetin Altan
Çetin Altan, is a Turkish writer, journalist, and a former member of parliament.-Biography:After graduating from Galatasaray High School, he received BA in Law in Ankara University. His first book was published in 1946. Altan accepted Abdi İpekçi's offer in 1959 and became a journalist in Milliyet...
. A working journalist for more than twenty years, he has served in all stages of the profession, from being a night shift reporter to editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
in various newspapers.
In addition to having written columns in several Turkish newspapers, including Hürriyet
Hürriyet
-External links:* * ** * *...
, Milliyet
Milliyet
Milliyet is a major Turkish daily newspaper founded in 1950.-History:Milliyet came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950...
and Radikal
Radikal
Radikal is a daily Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. It has been published since 1997 by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group ....
, Altan has produced news programming for television. He is currently the editor in chief and lead columnist of Taraf
Taraf
- External links :*. Website of Taraf ....
, a daily Turkish newspaper.
He was fired from Milliyet after writing a column on 17 April 1995 titled "Atakurd", which presented an alternate history of Turkey.
In September 2008 when Altan published an article titled "Oh, My Brother" dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
, he was charged under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
Article 301 (Turkish penal code)
Article 301 is a controversial article of the Turkish Penal Code making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish ethnicity, or Turkish government institutions...
for "denigrating Turkishness". The judicial claim was initiated by the far-right "Great Union Party
Great Union Party
The Great Union Party is a nationalist political party in Turkey, created on January 29, 1993. It is considered to be close to the Grey Wolves organization, and is related to the "Alperen Ocakları" tendency, which operated a synthesis between Islamism and Turkish Nationalism, and separated itself...
."
Altan, along with some of his Taraf associates, carries a firearm for self-protection.
Novels
- Kılıç Yarası Gibi (Like a Sword Wound)
- Dört Mevsim Sonbahar (Four Seasons of Autumn)
- Yalnızlığın Özel Tarihi (A Private History of Loneliness)
- Sudaki İz (Trace on the Water)
- Aldatmak (Cheating)
- İsyan Günlerinde Aşk (Love in the Days of Rebellion)
- En Uzun Gece (The Longest Night)
- Tehlikeli Masallar (Dangerous Tales)
Collections of Essays
- Gece Yarısı Şarkıları (Midnight Songs)
- İçimizde Bir Yer (Somewhere Inside Us)
- Karanlıkta Sabah Kuşları (Morning Birds in Darkness)
- Kristal Denizaltı (Crystal Submarine)
- Ve Kırar Göğsüne Bastırırken (And He Breaks While Holding Down To His Chest)