Emin Çölaşan (born 14 March 1942) is a Turkish investigative journalist, whose daily column appeared in the mass-circulation newspaper,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'', for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007. Since 2007, he continues his column in ''

Sözcü ''Sözcü'' (English: ''Spokesperson'') is a popular Turkish daily newspaper. ''Sözcü'' was first published on 27 June 2007 by Burak Akbay and is distributed nationwide. As of June 2018, it was one of the top-selling newspapers in Turkey, with ...

''.

Family background

A native of

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Emin Çölaşan was born into a Cretan Turkish family whose surname, which literally means "desert strider", is a reference to his grandfather who was exiled by Sultan

Abdülhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline wit ...

deep into the Fizan desert interior of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

for 7 years because of taking part in the

Young Turk The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, a ...

movement. His maternal grandfather, Refik Şevket İnce, born in

Polichnitos Polichnitos () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares l ...

near

Mytilene Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of the Aegean. It was fo ...

(modern-day

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

), served under the country's leader,

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

and, subsequently, in ministerial posts during the 1920s and into the 1950s, and his father served in th
State Meteorological Service
where he was a general director for 14 years, one of the longest. His wife Tansel (born 1943), who held the position of chief advocate for the

Turkish Council of State The Council of State () is the highest administrative court in the Republic of Turkey and is located in Ankara. Its role and tasks are prescribed by the Constitution of Turkey within the articles on the supreme courts. According to Article 155 o ...

(Danıştay), was the president o
Atatürk Thought Association
He has no children.

Education and career

Çölaşan finished his secondary studies in

TED Ankara College TED Ankara College Foundation Schools is a group of private schools in Turkey. It consists of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. Its İncek Campus, considered sizeable with 141,000 square meters of enclosed and over 309,000 square ...

and graduated from the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

with a degree in management studies. For a decade, he worked in various public institutions and started his journalism career in 1977 at the Istanbul daily ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

'', shifting in 1985 as a regular columnist for ''

'', an influential position which he has maintained for nearly a quarter of a century. He is also the author of numerous books which focus primarily on malpractices within governmental and public circles in Turkey, as well as an instigator and/or party in frequent

polemics Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

centering on his discoveries of official malfeasance and misconduct.

Controversies

Çölaşan had been a critic of

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...

, Turkey's Prime Minister from 1983 to 1989, who became the target of his 1980s bestseller books ''Turgut'un Serüveni'' '' urgut's Adventure' and ''Turgut Nereden Koşuyor?'' '' here is Turgut Running From?'. Çölaşan also criticized the incumbent AKP government, which is known to be the reason behind his 13 August 2007 firing from ''Hürriyet'' after 22 years of service. A strong and passionate nationalist, Çölaşan has criticized the government's plans regarding the Kurdish problem. Emin Çölaşan is a secularist, has accused the AKP government for Islamism.

Works

* 24 Ocak Bir Dönemin Perde Arkası, 1983 - Series * 12 Eylül Özal Ekonomisinin Perde Arkası, 1984 - Series * Yalçın'ı Kim Kurtaracak?, 1985 * Yalçın Nereye Koşuyor, 1985 * Banker Skandalı'nın Perde Arkası, 1985 * İcraatın İçinden, 1986 - Interview * Önce İnsanım Sonra Gazeteci, 1987 * Biz Kırk Kişiyiz Birbirimizi Biliriz, 1987 - Interview * Turgut Nereden Koşuyor?, Tekin Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1989 * Bir Dönemin Yazıları 1988-1989, Tekin Yayınevi, 1990, * Turgut'un Serüveni, Tekin Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1993, * Sor Bakalım!, Tekin Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1993, - Interview * Muhteşem İkili, Ümit Yayıncılık, Ankara, 1998, * Ah Refah Vah Refah, Ümit Yayıncılık, Ankara, 1998, * Tarihe Düşülen Notlar, Ümit Yayıncılık, Ankara, 2000, * Unutulmayan Söyleşiler Tarihe Düşülen Notlar, 2006 * Şu Benim Gazetecilik "Yaşadıklarım", Doğan Kitap, 2005, * Kovulduk Ey Halkım Unutma Bizi, Bilgi Yayınevi, 2007 * Her Kuşun Eti Yenmez, Bilgi Yayınevi 2008 * Sakıncalı Gazeteci, Bilgi Yayınevi 2009

References

Notes

External links

Archive of articles by Emin Çölaşan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colasan, Emin 1942 births Living people Journalists from Ankara 21st-century Turkish journalists Turkish columnists Turkish secularists TED Ankara College Foundation Schools alumni Middle East Technical University alumni Sözcü people Hürriyet people Milliyet people