Yalçın Küçük
Yalçın Küçük (born 1938) is a Turkish socialist writer, philosopher, economist, historian, Kurdolog, Sovietolog and media pundit, recognized for his historical studies on the late-Ottoman and Republican periods in the history of Turkey and Soviet economic development from a Marxist perspective and also his interest in crypto-Judaism in Turkey (Sabbateanism) and criticism of the Justice and Development Party.[1][2] He was detained for 682 days in relation to the Odatv case of the Ergenekon trials (released in December 2012).[3] In August 2013 he was sentenced to 22 years and six months, later to be released on 12/12/13.[4]
Background
Küçük was born in Iskenderun. His father's ancestry is Turkoman while his mother's is Caucasian. He went to the Kabataş High School, followed by Ankara University. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in political science.[2]
Career
His first job was in the State Planning Board, where he eventually oversaw the Long Term Planning department. In 1966 he found a position at the Middle East Technical University. He was fired after the 1971 coup. Before the coup he wrote calling for a "Socialist Revolution" and a socialist administration in Turkey in the leftist publications Yön, Emek, Ant.[1] He is also well known for his bitter criticisms against another strategy called "National Democratic Revolution" (Turkish: Milli Demokratik Devrim).
In 1973, he became a reserve officer at the Polatlı Artillery school (military service is compulsory in Turkey). Afterward he ran the economy department of the establishment newspaper, Cumhuriyet.[2] He also ran the economy bulletin of the Anka news agency.[1]
He soon devoted himself to leftist causes, such as editing the newspaper Yürüyüş and relaunching of the Workers Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye İşçi Partisi). The party kicked him and some others out in 1978; so, they launched a magazine called Socialist Power (Turkish: Sosyalist İktidar) the next year.[1]
In 1979 he joined Ankara University but was again dismissed after the next coup, in 1980. He returned to academia at Gazi University, and retired in 1987.[1]
Retirement
In his retirement he continued to write; for Social Deliverance (Turkish: Toplumsal Kurtuluş), Always Forward (Turkish: Hep İleri). In 1993 he interviewed the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Öcalan in Syria's Bekaa Valley. Numerous photographs were leaked depicting Öcalan providing Küçük with a tour of the camp, and dining with him.[1][5]
Actually, Küçük's photographs with Abdullah Öcalan were published in his own books and journals edited by Küçük, himself during the 1990s during his contact with PKK.[6] On various TV channels and interviews, he explicitly asserted that these were neither secret photographs nor he was ashamed of them. He as a social scientist and a socialist went to analyze the most powerful insurgency against the Turkish state, he claimed. In fact, in this period the rumors about the contact of Öcalan and Küçük went so far. Kurdish political organizations other than PKK claimed that Küçük "Kemalized" Öcalan by persuading him into denying separatism.
He left for Paris in 1993 in protest of president Süleyman Demirel and the fact that a brothel owner, Matild Manukyan, was the highest taxpayer, but returned after the 1997 "post-modern" coup. However, he was sentenced to two years in prison for spreading separatist propaganda (his interviews with Öcalan). He briefly had a show on Sky Türk called Pens and Swords (Turkish: Kalemler ve Kılıçlar) but it got pulled allegedly after complaints from the government and the former chief of general staff, Yaşar Büyükanıt.[1]
Since the publication of Yalçın Küçük’s book Şebeke ("Network") in 2002 a new wave of conspiracy theories against the Dönmeh have emerged. The Dönmeh are suspected of having created a network linked to "International Jewry," secretly manipulating consecutive governments in Turkey.
His houses in Karakusunlar, Ankara and Balat, Istanbul were searched in January 2009 in the frame of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. His lawyer, Dursun Ermiş, arrived at Küçük's home in Ankara to field journalists' questions. The search warrant was issued by the Ninth Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul. The police is searching for documents pertaining to the Ergenekon network.[7] He was later detained for 682 days in relation to the Odatv case of the Ergenekon trials (released in December 2012), and remains under indictment.[3]
Selected bibliography
Küçük is a prolific writer:[1]
- Türkiye üzerine Tezler - 5 volumes (Thesis' about Turkey)
- Aydın Üzerine Tezler - 5 volumes (Thesis' about intellectuals)
- 100 Soruda Planlama Kalkınma ve Türkiye (Planning - Development in 100 question and Turkey)
- Endüstrileşmenin Temel Sorunları: Sovyet Deneyimi (Basic problems of industrialisation: the soviet experience)
- Yeni Bir Cumhuriyet için (For a new republic)
- Bilim ve Edebiyat (Science and Literature)
- Qua Vadimus - Nereye Gidiyoruz? (Where are we going?)
- Sovyetler Birliğinde Sosyalizmin Kuruluşu (Foundation of socialism in Soviet Union)
- Sovyetler Birliğinde Sosyalizmin Çözülüşü (Collapse of socialism in Soviet Union)
- Küfür Romanları (Novels of Insult)
- Estetik Hesaplaşma (Aesthetical Payoff)
- İtirafçıların İtirafları (Confessions of confessors)
- 21 Yaşında Çocuk: Fatih Sultan Mehmet (A 21-year-old boy: Mehmet the Conqueror)
- Ermeni Rahiple Mektuplaşmalar (Letters to an Armenian priest)
- Emperyalist Türkiye (Imperialist Turkey)
- Kürtler Üzerine Tezler (Thesis' on Kurds)
- Kürt Bahçesinde Sözleşi (Interviews in kurdish garden)
- Tekeliyet 1 - 2 (Monopoly 1-2)
- Tekelistan (Monopolyland 1-2)
- İsimlerin İbranileştirilmesi / Tekelistan - 1 / Türk Yahudi isimleri Sözlüğü (Hebrewation of names / Monopolyland 1 / Turkish - Hebrew names dictionary)
- Tarih 1-2 (History 1-2)
- İsyan 1-2 (Rebellion 1-2)
- Şebeke 1 (Network 1)
- Putları Yıkıyorum - Önsözler 1 (I'm breaking the idols - Prewords 1)
- Türkiye Büyülü Hapishanem (Turkey, my magical prison)
- Ders 1: Küçülme Savaş (Lesson 1: Don't get minimize, make war)
- Devlet ve Hürriyet (State and Freedom)
- Caligula: Saralı Cumhur (2007)(Epileptic Public)
- Sol Müdahale (2007)(Left Intervention)
- Aforizmalar (2008)(Aphorisms)
- Epilepsi ile Orgazm: Mediko-Politik (2008)(Epilepsy and Orgasm: Medico-Politic)
- Çöküş (2010)(Decadence)
- Haberci (2010)(The Precursor)
- Fitne (2010)(The Cabal)
- Hasta Despot (2010)(Ailing Despot)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Türkiye. "Yön’den Ergenekon’a Yalçın Küçük". Radikal (in Turkish). Anka news agency. 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Prof. Dr. Yalçın Küçük kimdir". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hurriyet Daily News, 28 December 2012, CHP leader pleased at journalist Yalçın’s release
- ↑ Today's Zaman, 5 August 2013, Long sentences for Ergenekon suspects, life for ex-army chief
- ↑ "İşte Yalçın Küçük'ün Kankası". Rize Kaçkar Televizyonu (in Turkish). 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ↑ For instance see various issues of Toplumsal Kurtuluş and Bilim ve Edebiyat
- ↑ Kurt, Nurettin (2009-01-07). "Yalçın Küçük'ün evinde arama". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2009-01-07.
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