Ahmet Şık (b. 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, author of several books and a trade unionist.[1]
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He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty for Communication, department Journalism. Between 1991-2007 he worked for several newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Evrensel and Yeni Yüzyıl. He has also worked at Nokta magazine and Reuters News Agency as a photo journalist. He turned to academic work, when he was dismissed for his trade unionist activities.[1] Ahmet Şık is a member of the Turkish Journalists' Union (tr: Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası TGS) and the Association of Contemporary Journalists (tr: Çağdaş Gazeteciler Derneği ÇGD). In dailies, weeklies and monthlies he had published on human rights, journalism and professional ethics.[1]
On 3 March 2011 eleven people were detained in Istanbul and Ankara, including the journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener. On 6 March they and another seven people were arrested on the allegation they were members of the secret organization Ergenekon.[2][3][4] On or around 23 March Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 ordered the confiscation of a draft for a book that Ahmet Şık wanted to publish under the title of "The Army of the Imam". On 1 April 2011 unknown people made the book available on the Internet.[5][6]
The printing house, İthaki, was the publisher that owned the rights to "İmamın Ordusu" (The Army of the Imam).[7] The unpublished book deals with the alleged organization founded within the Turkish police by the Fethullah Gülen religious community. This fact has led to suspicions that Şık was arrested due to the book's contents, rather than his involvement in the alleged Ergenekon gang, which he has worked as a journalist to expose.[7]
The co-author of Ahmet Şık's earlier books on Ergenekon, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu made a summary of the book.[8] In the book there are long passages on the life of Fethullah Gülen. This kind of information already existed in many articles and books. Yet, there are further details on the conflict between Necmettin Erbakan and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).[5] The book also presents confessions of one of the founders of the Akyazılı Foundation that in 1966 became the basis for the establishment of the parish. It is also explained how Gülen developed schools and made use of certain media institutions.[5]
Relating to the governments of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) the fast organization of the Gülen parish in the bureaucracy is explained. The question is asked whether the parish is the armed unit of the police.[5] The Democratic Turkey Forum has translated passages of the book into English.[9]
In his draft book Şık draws heavily on other sources, including quoting extensively from intelligence reports from before the AKP came to power in 2002 and more recent work by other journalists and analysts. As a result, the book contains little that was not already known.[10] The book is much like any other that has been published about Gülen. It is written in the past tense, which is not the tense that anyone composing an “illegal organizational document” to plan a coup would use.[11] Criticism like "the book aims to create a sensation, rather than provide objective information" was also voiced.[12]
This is not the first time that Ahmet Şık is on trial. On 2 April 2008 Lale Sarıiibrahimoğlu (columnist in the daily Today's Zaman) and Ahmet Şık were acquitted from charges of insulting the military under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which penalizes the denigration of “Turkishness” or the Turkish army. Bakırköy 2nd Court of First Instance in İstanbul ruled that the article titled, “The military should withdraw its hand from internal security,” in the Feb. 8, 2007 edition of weekly Nokta should be evaluated as “harsh criticism” and not a criminal offence.[13]
On 26 August 2011 İstanbul prosecutor Cihan Kansız sent a 134-page indictment on 14 defendants, 12 of them in pre-trial detention to the newly founded Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16. One of the imprisoned defendants was Ahmet Şık.[14] The charges included membership or support of an armed organization and incitement to hatred and enmity. Ahmet Şık was charged with support of an armed organization.[15] On 13 September 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16 decided that the trial will start on 22 November 2011.[16]