Ahmet Altan

Ahmet Altan
A page from Ahmet Altan's Kristal Denizaltı
Born Ahmet Hüsrev Altan
1950 (age 67–68)
Ankara, Turkey
Nationality Turkish
Education Robert College
Ankara College
Middle East Technical University
Istanbul University
Occupation Editor-in-chief and lead columnist of Taraf (2007–2012)
Children Two
Relatives Çetin Altan (father), Mehmet Altan (brother)
Website http://www.taraf.com.tr/ahmet-altan/

Ahmet Hüsrev Altan (born 1950) is a Turkish journalist and author. 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 in various newspapers.

Biography

He was born 1950 in Ankara, Turkey to the notable journalist and writer Çetin Altan as the first of two sons. His brother Mehmet Altan is also a journalist, writer and university professor of economy politics.

Career

In addition to having written columns in several Turkish newspapers, including Hürriyet, Milliyet and Radikal, Altan has produced news programming for television.

He was fired from Milliyet after writing a column on 17 April 1995 titled "Atakurd", which presented an alternate history of Turkey.[1][2]

In 2007 he became the founding editor in chief and lead columnist of Taraf, a daily Turkish newspaper, and remained in the position until his resignation in December 2012.

In September 2008 when Altan published an article titled "Oh, My Brother" dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, he was charged under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for "denigrating Turkishness". The judicial claim was initiated by the far-right "Great Union Party."[3][4]

Altan, along with some of his Taraf associates, usually carries a firearm for self-protection.[5]

On December 14, 2012, Ahmet Altan, who was founding editor-in-chief of the daily Taraf since 2007, resigned from his post. With him stepped down his assistant editor Yasemin Çongar, and Neşe Tüzel. The next day, columnist Hadi Uluengin followed the leaving group of journalists.[6]

During Turkey's media purge after the failed July 2016 coup d'état on September 23, 2016, Altan, was arrested. He is accused of sending "subliminal messages" to encourage 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt planners.[7]

In September 2017, while banned from written communications, Altan produced an essay The Writer's Paradox in which he says: 'I am writing these words from a prison cell ... But wait. Before you start playing the drums of mercy for me listen to what I will tell you ... They may have the power to imprison me but no one has the power to keep me in prison. I am a writer.' The essay was published on 18 September 2017, on the eve of Altan's trial: in English by The Society of Authors (translated by Yasemin Çongar) and in the original Turkish by English PEN.[8][9][10]

As the trial began, many authors spoke out in support of Altan. Neil Gaiman said "I hope that everyone who can read, whatever their politics, reads Ahmet Altan's response to his imprisonment. Repressive regimes hope that if they lock up writers they are also locking up ideas. This will always fail." and Joanne Harris said "Writers exist to question, to challenge, sometimes even to ridicule - the status quo. For a government to imprison a writer for doing this is to attack, not only freedom of speech, but freedom of the imagination. It is a backward, oppressive and ultimately futile gesture that can only lead to greater and more damaging social unrest."[11]

On 16 February 2018, along with his brother Mehmet and four others he was sentenced to life imprisonment with the condition that they be locked up for 23 hours each and every day.

Bibliography

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)
  • Son Oyun (Endgame) (translated into English by Alexander Dawe, 2016)

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)

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Altan, Ahmet (1995-04-17). "Atakurd". Milliyet. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  2. ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 8 April 2013, Famous writer Ahmet Altan back with new book
  3. ↑ A trial against the journalist who wrote about the Genocide, Azg daily, Sept. 2008.
  4. ↑ Onderoglu, Erol (2008-09-12). "Writer And Journalist Ahmet Altan Charged With Insulting Turkish Nation". Bianet. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  5. ↑ Hansen, Suzy (2009-01-02). "Eye of the storm". The National Newspaper. Abu Dhabi Media Company. Retrieved 2009-01-02. Ahmet carries a gun. But he always carried a gun. Alev carries a gun. These guys like guns, it’s not like they have to carry guns. But it also shows me that they feel more secure having a gun. They don’t want a bodyguard after them all the time.
  6. ↑ "Taraf'ta istifa depremi". Hürriyet Gündem (in Turkish). 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  7. ↑ http://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/ahmet-altantutuklandi,Zg71muf5B0uTb8CPBLoF2Q
  8. ↑ On eve of trial, Ahmet Altan writes how imagination sustains him in Turkish jail, The Guardian, Alison Flood, 18 September 2017
  9. ↑ http://www.societyofauthors.org/News/Blogs/Ahmet-Altan/September-2017/The-Writer-s-Paradox
  10. ↑ https://www.englishpen.org/pen-atlas/37085/
  11. ↑ http://www.societyofauthors.org/News/News/2017/September/Ahmet-Altan-call-for-messages-of-support

References

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