Ahmet Şık (; born 1970,
Adana
Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
) is a Turkish
investigative journalist, the author of several books, a
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
ist, and member of
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
[Details o]
this website
; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, ''
The Imam's Army'', investigating the controversial
Gülen movement
The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
of the Islamic preacher
Fethullah Gülen
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
, led to his detention for a year in 2011–2012 and the book's being seized and banned. He was under indictment in the
OdaTV case of the Ergenekon trials; his cause has been taken up by
English PEN
Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...
, an association of writers fighting for freedom of expression. In 2016, the prosecutor in this case requested Şık's acquittal. On 29 December 2016, Şık was taken into custody once again on charges of "propaganda of terrorist organisations", with reference to 11 tweets that he had published.
The following day, an Istanbul judge ordered Ahmet's arrest. According to lawyers, Şık was denied access to legal advice, held in solitary confinement, and not given drinking water for three days. He ran as an
HDP candidate in
2018 Turkish elections and got elected from
Istanbul's second electoral district. In 2020, he resigned from
HDP, citing political differences and after sitting as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
for a year, he joined the
Workers' Party of Turkey.
Career
Şık studied journalism at
Istanbul University
Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...
. Between 1991 and 2007, Şık worked for several major Turkish newspapers including ''
Cumhuriyet
''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...
'', ''
Radikal
''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally consider ...
'', ''Evrensel'', and ''Yeni Yüzyıl''. He also worked at ''
Nokta'' magazine and
Reuters News Agency as a photo journalist. He turned to academic work when he was dismissed for his trade unionist activities.
[ In 1998, he was hospitalized "after a pro-police mob, furious about a murder conviction against several cops in a torture case, attacked the victim’s lawyers, the prosecutor, and journalists. In 2009, he fled the country for a year, fearing officials who had been targets of his reporting."
Ahmet Şık is a member of the Turkish Journalists' Union (Turkish: ''Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası'', TGS) and the Association of Contemporary Journalists (Turkish: ''Çağdaş Gazeteciler Derneği'', ÇGD). In dailies, weeklies, and monthlies, he has published on human rights, journalism, and professional ethics.][
Şık accused , an Armenian-Turkish activist who is the only one taking stage with a steelvest in the history of Germany including the Nazi regime,] of being an agent of the Gulen movement. Bagdat later on claimed that Şık's accusation put his life in danger and caused threats from the Turkish deep state, especially from the Ergenekon sympathizers.
Political career
Şık was elected as a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy for İstanbul's second electoral district in the 2018 parliamentary election. In April 2020 he quit the HDP with complaints on becoming an establishment party and shifting from intra-party democracy, although reiterated he is still in solidarity with HDP and its members. After sitting as an independent for almost a year, Şık joined the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP). He co-authored an extensive report for the party investigating the ties, alleged by Sedat Peker, between the interior minister Süleyman Soylu, the organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
and the deep state in Turkey
In Turkey, a political conspiracy theory posits the existence of a deep state (), a group of influential anti-democratic coalitions inside the Turkish political structure, composed of high-level elements within the intelligence services (domest ...
, which was published as a book under the title ''The Wall (Duvar'' in Turkish).
Legal charges
Article in ''Nokta''
On 2 April 2008 Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu (columnist in the daily '' Today's Zaman'', also known as Lale Kemal) and Ahmet Şık were acquitted of charges of insulting the military under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which penalizes the denigration of “Turkishness” or the Turkish army. Bakırköy
Bakırköy is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district in the European part of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 29 km2, and its population is 226,685 (2022). Bakırköy lies between the State road D.100 (Turkey), D.100 highway (l ...
2nd Court of First Instance in İstanbul ruled that the article titled “The military should withdraw its hand from internal security” in the 8 February 2007 edition of weekly '' Nokta'' should be evaluated as “harsh criticism” and its publication does not constitute a criminal offence.
''Kırk katır, kırk satır''
In June 2010, after the publication of the two-volume book ''Kırk katır, kırk satır'', Şık and his co-author Ertuğrul Mavioğlu were indicted on charges of "breaching confidentiality of the documents" relating to the Ergenekon trials
The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...
, with the prosecutor requesting a term of 4 years and 6 months. The authors were eventually acquitted in May 2011.
''The Imam's Army''
''The Imam's Army'' ( Turkish: ''İmamın Ordusu'') is a book by Şık investigating the life and work of Fethullah Gülen
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
and his Gülen movement
The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
. Şık was detained in March 2011, before the book was published, and the draft book was seized by the government and banned. Şık was detained pending trial, being eventually released pending trial in March 2012. In the interim, in an act of anti-censorship defiance, a version of the book was released in November 2011 under the name ''000Kitap'' (000Book), edited by 125 journalists, activists and academics, and published by Postacı Publishing House.
''The Imam's Army'' release comments
On 30 July 2012, an Istanbul court accepted a new indictment against Şık, charging him with threatening and defaming civil servants for their duties. The charges, for which the prosecutor is seeking a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment, are based on a declaration Şık gave to the press immediately upon his release from Silivri prison, in which he stated, "The police, prosecutors and judges who plotted and executed this conspiracy will enter this prison."
''Paralel Yürüdük Biz Bu Yollarda''
In 2015, Şık published his book ''Paralel Yürüdük Biz Bu Yollarda'' on the relationship between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement, which had been classified as a terrorist organization by the AKP by the time the book was written. He was indicted twice with charges of insulting Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 27th and last prime minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He w ...
due to his public duties; in one of these cases, he was ordered to pay 4,000 Turkish liras; in another, the prosecutor demanded his imprisonment for up to two years and four months.
Private life
Ahmet Şık is the brother of Bülent Şık, an environmental scientist and a whistleblower
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
.
Books
* Together with Ertuğrul Mavioğlu: "40 mules, 40 cleavers" (''Kırk katır, kırk satır''), consisting of two volumes:
* ''Ergenekon'da Kim Kimdir?'' (Who is Who in Ergenekon?) 2010.
* ''Kontrgerilla ve Ergenekon’u Anlama Kılavuzu'' (Guide to Understanding the Contraguerrilla and Ergenekon) 2010.
* ''Ambush: The State's New Owners'' (''Pusu: Devletin Yeni Sahipleri''), 2012. .
* '' 000Book'' (''000Kitap''), initially released online in draft form as " The Imam's Army" (''İmamın Ordusu''), 2012.
* '' We Walked These Roads In Parallel'' (''Paralel Yürüdük Biz Bu Yollarda''), 2015.
* ''Duvar: Sedat Peker’in İtiraf, İfşaat ve İddialarına İlişkin Türkiye İşçi Partisi Araştırma Raporu'' (''Wall: Workers' Party of Turkey Research Report about Sedat Peker's Confessions, Revelations and Allegations''), 2021
Awards
* ''Bülent Dikmener Haber Ödülü'' (en: Bülent Dikmenler News Award) (1994)[
* ''Türkiye Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Fotoğraf Ödülü'' (en: Photography Award of the ]Turkish Journalists' Association The Turkish Journalists' Association (, TGC) is an association for journalists in Turkey.
It was founded on 10 June 1946, shortly after the abolition of the Turkish Press Union (Türk Basın Birliği), membership of which had been required by law f ...
) (1995)[
* ''Metin Göktepe Gazetecilik Ödülü'' ( Metin Göktepe Journalism Award) (2001–2002–2007)][
** In 2001 for the best article in the printed press for the article "The underground killers" (tr: ''Yeraltındaki Katiller'')
** In 2002 special award from the jury for the article "Back to Reality" (tr: ''Gerçeğe Dönüş'')
** In 2007 special award from the jury for the article "There are two kinds of journalists: Opponents of the Turkish Armed Forces TSK and followers of the TSK" (tr: ''İki tür gazeteci vardır: TSK karşıtları, TSK yandaşları'')][
* ''Çağdaş Gazeteciler Derneği Haber Ödülü'' (en: News Award from the Association of Contemporary Journalists) (2002–2003–2005)][
* UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize (2014)]
References
External links
Relevant pages of the Democratic Turkey Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sik, Ahmet
1970 births
Living people
Turkish journalists
Journalists imprisoned in Turkey
Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey
Politicians from Istanbul
Workers' Party of Turkey (2017) politicians
Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians