Çetin Altan

Çetin Altan, (b. 20 June 1927, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish writer, journalist, and a former member of parliament. He is considered one of the finest writers in the modern Turkish language of the late 20th century.

Biography

After graduating from the exclusive Galatasaray High School, he received a law degree from Ankara University. His first book was published in 1946. Altan accepted Abdi İpekçi's offer in 1959 and became a journalist in the daily Milliyet. Then he worked in the newspapers Akşam, Hürriyet, Güneş, Sabah and again in Milliyet.

Çetin Altan was a member of parliament for Workers Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye İşçi Partisi) between 1965 and 1969. He was physically attacked and beaten in parliament by right-wing MPs of the then-prime minister Süleyman Demirel's Adalet (Justice) Party, during this period. He has been prosecuted more than 300 times because of his articles. Altan has been arrested three times and convicted twice. He has published several novels and collections of essays, dealing with and criticizing the social and political situation of Turkey and the problems of contemporary Turkish society and culture in the second half of the 20th century from a socialistic/culturally liberal perspective. Many of his novels and essays contain autobiographical elements connected with his own political and personal struggles.

See also

• Ahmet Altan

References

• Biyografi.net - Biography of Çetin Altan (Turkish)