Murat Gökhan Bardakçı (born 25 December 1955) is a Turkish journalist working on

Ottoman history The Ottoman Empire was founded c. 1299 by Turkoman chieftain Osman I as a small beylik in northwestern Anatolia just south of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. In 1326, the Ottoman Turks captured nearby Bursa, cutting off Asia Minor from Byz ...

and

Turkish music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music ...

history. He is also a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for ''

Habertürk ''Habertürk'' (), abbreviated as ''HT'', was a high-circulation Turkish newspaper. It was established on 1 March 2009 by Ciner Media Group, drawing on the brand of Ciner's Habertürk TV. It ceased publication on 5 July 2018. The newspaper s ...

'' newspaper.

Biography

Bardakçı was born in 1955 in

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 ...

. An

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

by training, he was trained in

Turkish classical music Ottoman music () or Turkish classical music (, or more recently ) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally features a solo singer wi ...

by some of the most-reputed contemporary masters, in

tambur The is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. There are two variants, one of which is played with a plectrum (''mızraplı tambur'') and the other with a bow ('' yaylı tambur''). The player is call ...

and singing at first, with his primary interests directed more towards theory and musical history later. He published several researches on musical history (notably the biographies of the composers

Abd al-Qadir Maraghi Abd al-Qadir al-Maraghi ibn Ghaybi (; ) was a music theorist, composer and performer of the Timurid Empire. A renowned writer on music and musician, his theories had a profound influence on subsequent Persian, Arab, and Turkish music. Life Abd ...

and Refik Fersan) and with the start of a journalistic career in ''

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 ...

'', expanded the scope of his writings on Ottoman and general

Islamic history The history of Islam is believed, by most historians, to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abra ...

, with marked emphasis on the 19th and the early-20th centuries. Two of his books on the end of the

Ottoman dynasty The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

, "Son Osmanlılar" (''The Last Ottomans'') and Şahbaba (literally, ''The Emperor-father''), a biography of

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as ''Şahbaba'' () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the penultimate Ottoman Cal ...

Vahideddin, became

best-seller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

s in Turkey, the former also having been carried over to the screen in the form a TV serial. He married Ayşegül Manav in 2009. Since 2008 he has co-hosted the history programme "Tarihin Arka Odası" (''The Backroom of History'') and its successor "Tarihin İzinde" (''On the Track of History'') with

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Erhan Afyoncu and several others, including Turkish art historian Nurhan Atasoy, on Haberturk TV. He knows Arabic, English, French, Persian and Ottoman Turkish.

Talat Pasha's ''Black Book''

Murat Bardakçı is the editor of the ''Black Book'', Ottoman Minister of Interior

Talat Pasha Mehmed Talât (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha, was an Ottoman Young Turk activist, revolutionary, politician, and convicted war criminal who served as the leader of the Ottoman Empire from 191 ...

's recording of relocations of Turkish-Muslim and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Christian Ottoman citizens in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

conditions. Published by Bardakçı for the first time in 2005, they were handed over to him by Talat Pasha's widow, Hayriye Talat Bafralı, along with a batch of other documents comprising letters he had sent her and telegrammes exchanged between

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

members. In April 2006, Bardakçı re-edited the black book in full, adding parts that were missing in the first publication. The 1915-1916 resettlements cited in Talat Pasha Black Book of 702,905 Turks from regions under threat of occupation by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n forces and of 924,158 Armenians in accordance with 27 May 1915 Tehcir Law.

Bibliography

*''

'', Pan Publishing, 1986, . *''The Last Ottomans & The Deportation and Heritage of Ottoman Dynasty'', Pan Publishing - İnkılâp Bookstore, 1991, . *''Royal Compositions (The Works of Last Sultan of the Ottomans, Mehmet Vahideddin VI)'', Pan Publishing, 1997, . *''Turkish Songs for Fener Rulers'', Pan Publishing, 1993, . *''Sex in Ottomans'', Gür Publishing - İnkılâp Bookstore, 1993, . *''Mr. Refik (Refik Fersan and His Memories)'', Pan Publishing, 1995, . *''Şahbaba: The Life, Memories and Private Letters of Last Sultan of the Ottomans, Mehmed VI Vahdeddin'', Pan Publishing - İnkılâp Bookstore, 1998, . *''The Abandoned Documents of Talât Pasha'', Everest Publishing, 2009, . * ''Neslişah: Cumhuriyet Devrinde Bir Osmanlı Prensesi'', Everest Publishing, 2011, . * ''Ahmed Oğlu Şükrullah: Şükrullah'ın Risalesi ve 15. Yüzyıl Şark Musikisi Nazariyatı'', Istanbul, 2012, . * ''Üçüncü Selim Devrine Ait Bir Bostancıbaşı Defteri'', Pan Publishing, 2013, . * ''İttihadçı'nın Sandığı'', İş Bankası Kültür Publishing, 2014, . * ''Mahmut Şevket Paşa'nın Sadaret Günlüğü'', İş Bankası Kültür Publishing, 2014, . * ''Enver'', İş Bankası Kültür Publishing, 2015, .

Footnotes

External links

Archive of articles by Murat Bardakçı in the newspaper ''Sabah''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardakci, Murat Turkish journalists Turkish columnists 20th-century Turkish historians Writers from Istanbul 1955 births Living people 21st-century Turkish historians Historians of World War I Turkish people of Crimean Tatar descent Turkish people of Circassian descent Habertürk people Turkish television talk show hosts Turkish tambur players