Mehmet Ali Birand (9 December 1941 – 17 January 2013) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

journalist, political commentator and writer.

Biography

He was born to İzzet and his wife Mürvet on 9 December 1941 in

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. His mother's father, Şerif Bey, was of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

descent from

Palu, Elazığ Palu ( ku, Palo) is a town of Elazığ Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Palu District.İ ...

. Şerif Bey settled in Ereğli, Zonguldak, and married there a Turkish woman named Seniye Hanım. Birand's maternal uncle was a diplomat,

Mahmut Dikerdem Mahmut Dikerdem (1916–1993) was a Turkish diplomat, writer and peace activist. He served as ambassador of Turkey in Jordan, Iran, Ghana, and India. He is known for being the founder and president of the Turkish Peace Association which was banne ...

. He completed his high school education at

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

Career

Birand began his journalism career in 1964 by writing in the newspaper ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish 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 ...

''. In 1992, he joined

Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Albayrak Holding since 2018, acquired from Sadık Albayrak which in turn seized from Ciner Media Group after Turgay Ciner was forced to sell due to tax debts. The channel replaces Cine ...

and presented the news. Birand began hosting a political show titled ''

32. Gün ''32. Gün'' ( en, 32nd Day) was a Turkish national and international television news show. Launched in 1985 by Mehmet Ali Birand, it was Turkey's longest-running and one of the most influential news programmes. The show was originally aired on ...

'' (The 32nd Day), which was first on TRT in 1985 and then moved to other private TV channels as

CNN Türk CNN Türk is a Turkish pay television news channel, launched on 11 October 1999 as the localised variant of American channel CNN. It broadcasts exclusively for Turkey and it is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Demirören Group. Its headquarte ...

and Show TV. He also presented the daily news on CNN Türk. Before his death in 2013, he worked at

Kanal D Kanal D, also known as Channel D, is a nationwide television channel in Turkey and part of Demirören Group. It was founded by Ayhan Şahenk and Aydın Doğan in 1993. The network also runs an international channel, Euro D which is available o ...

, hosting the news. He also authored several books including ''30 Sıcak Gün'', ''Diyet'', ''Türkiye'nin Avrupa Macerası'', ''12 Eylül 04.00'' and ''Emret Komutanım''. Birand was also a member of

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

's board and uncommitted governance council. In 2006, he said that

JITEM Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele or Jandarma İstihbarat Teşkilatı (abbr. ''JİTEM'' or ''JİT''; English: "Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism" or "Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization") is the unofficial and illegal intel ...

had asked

Mahmut Yıldırım Mahmut Yıldırım (born 1951, Yenidal, Solhan, Bingöl Province), better known as Yeşil ( Turkish for "Green"), is a Turkish rogue agent of Zaza origins. He is wanted for the murders of eight people in Turkey. Among the murders he is accused o ...

(''Yeşil'') to assassinate him, but that the operation was later cancelled, after Yıldırım had already investigated Birand's home security. Birand said that MIT chief

Şenkal Atasagun Şenkal Atasagun (born 1941, Kars) is a former Turkish civil servant. He was head of the National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) from 1998 to 2005. Atasagun joined MIT in 1967 after graduating from Galatas ...

was one of those who had told him of this episode.

Death

Birand died on 17 January 2013 from complications of gallbladder surgery to replace a

stent In medicine, a stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open, and stenting is the placement of a stent. A wide variety of stents are used for different purposes, from expandab ...

at the American Hospital in Istanbul. He had been receiving cancer treatment for a while. He was 71 years old.

Newspapers worked for

* 1964–1992 ''

'' * 1992–1998 ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

'' * 1999–2013 '' Posta'' * 2001–2013 ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' * 2001–2011 ''Milliyet''

Works

*''Diyet'' *''Türkiye'nin Avrupa Macerası'' *''30 Sıcak Gün'' *''12 Eylül 04.00'' ** in English: ''The generals' coup in Turkey - An inside story of 12 September 1980'' *''Emret Komutanım'' *''32. Gün'' *''10 Yılın Perde Arkası'' *''Mehmet Ali Birand'' *''Milliyet Yayınları / Aktüel Kitaplar Dizisi'' *''Nasreddin Hodja''

Notes

External links

A short biography of Mehmet Ali BirandMehmet Ali Birand's Hürriyet archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birand, Mehmet Ali 1941 births 2013 deaths People from Beyoğlu Milliyet people 20th-century Turkish journalists 21st-century Turkish writers Turkish people of Kurdish descent Turkish broadcast news analysts Galatasaray High School alumni Hürriyet people Sabah (newspaper) people Galatasaray S.K. board members Turkish television journalists Posta (newspaper) people Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Turkey 21st-century Turkish journalists