Yekta Güngör Özden (born 1932) is a Turkish judge, and former president of the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

. He was born in

Niksar Niksar, historically known as Neocaesarea (Νεοκαισάρεια), is a city in Tokat Province, Turkey. It was settled by many empires, being once the capital city of the province. Niksar is known as "Çukurova of the North-Anatolia" due to i ...

, a town in

Tokat Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is located at the confluence of the Tokat River (Tokat Suyu) with the Yeşilırmak. In the 2018 census, the city of Tokat had a population of 155,00 ...

province of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, in 1932. He was the president of the

, from May 8, 1991 until May 8, 1995, and from May 25, 1995 until January 1, 1998, when he retired. He also was the head of "'' Atatürkçü Düşünce Derneği''" (ADD), a leading Turkish non-governmental organization, that has organized Republic Protests, a peaceful mass rally of more than 300,000 people, in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, on April 14–15, 2007. Recently, he was implicated in the

Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

scandal, for allegedly being a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. The journalist who made the accusation,

Zihni Çakır Zihni Çakır (born 1969, Nizip) is a Turkish journalist and author known for publishing several books on the Ergenekon organization. Background Çakır was born in 1969 in Nizip, Gaziantep Province, and graduated from Ankara University Facult ...

, has been detained on charges of acquiring state secrets and fraudulent bankruptcy.

Notes

References

Biography of Yekta Güngör Özden
Biyografi.net Turkish judges 1932 births Turkish civil servants Living people People from Niksar Presidents of the Constitutional Court of Turkey Sözcü people {{Turkey-law-bio-stub