Mehmet Altan

Mehmet Hasan Altan (born 11 January 1953[1]) is a Turkish academic economist, journalist, and author of over 25 books. Describing himself as a "Marxist-liberal", he is the originator of the term "Second Republic", arguing that Turkey needs to reconstitute its republic as a true democracy.[2] He is a strong supporter of the Accession of Turkey to the European Union.

Mehmet Altan
Born
Mehmet Hasan Altan

(1953-01-11) 11 January 1953
Ankara, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
OccupationAcademic economist, journalist, and author
Parent(s)Çetin Altan (father)
RelativesAhmet Altan (brother)

On 10 September 2016, Altan was arrested in the wake of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt. He was later indicted on charges of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and acting on behalf of a terrorist organization. The Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled on 11 January 2018 that his rights as a journalist had been violated, but his subsequent application for release was rejected by Istanbul Assize Court. On 16 February 2018 he was sentenced to life in prison. In response to this, on 20 March 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made a ruling that determined that his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated, namely Article, namely Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) and Article 10 (freedom of expression).[3]

Background

He was born 1953 in Ankara, Turkey to the journalist and writer Çetin Altan as the second of two sons. His brother Ahmet Altan is also a journalist and writer.

Altan studied at the Sorbonne University from 1979 to 1984, completing masters and doctoral degrees in economics.[2]

Career

Altan has worked at the Istanbul University Faculty of Economics since 1986, first as assistant professor, then associate professor (1987) and full professor (1993).[4]

From 1987 to November 2006 he contributed to Sabah, before moving to Star, becoming editor-in-chief. He left Star in January 2012.[4] He has been dismissed from his paper because of government's pressures on media.[5]

Prosecution

He got sentenced to life in prison for terror related charges in February 2018 because the day before the Turkish coup d`état attempt 2016, according to Reuters he said on television: “Whatever the developments were that led to military coups in Turkey, by making the same decisions, Erdogan is paving the same path”. On the 27 June 2018 he got released pending trial.[6]

Books
  • Kanatlı Karınca, Nisan Yayınları 1985
  • Süperler ve Türkiye, AFA Yayınları 1986
  • Marks'tan Sevgilerle, Güneş Yayınları 1989
  • Darbelerin Ekonomisi (1990)
  • Kapitalizm bu köye uğramadı
  • Kurtler: Seytan Soyundan Mi?
  • İkinci Cumhuriyet'in Yol Hikayesi
  • Puslu Demokrasi : Ergenekon Güncesi
  • Marksist Liberal
  • Kent Dindarlığı
  • Metropolis İslam, Timas Publishing Group. ISBN 978-605-114-108-4

References
  1. Çetin Altan, 12 January 2011, Büyük bir rüzgâr gülü
  2. Hurriyet Daily News, 18 April 2009, Provocative politics as the family business
  3. Judgment concerning the application by the journalist Mehmet Hasan Altan, who was arrested and detained following the attempted military coup
  4. pgchallenges.org, Prof. Dr. Mehmet ALTAN
  5. "There's never been this much pressure on Turkish media, Mehmet Altan Says". salihsarikaya.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
  6. "Turkish journalist Mehmet Altan released from prison". Reuters. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
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