Savaş Ay (26 March 1954 – 9 November 2013) was a Turkish newspaper and television journalist, director, screenwriter, producer, photographer, and actor best known for his panel discussion television series ''A Takımı'' (The A-Team). Savaş Ay was born on 26 March 1954 in

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

to actor Turan Ay and his wife actress Şükran. After graduating from Marmara Academy of Commerce, he began a journalism career in 1974 at the business and economics daily ''Dünya''. He later was with the newspapers '' Tercüman'', '' Vatan'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

'' and the news agency Akajans. Ay's very popular panel discussion television series ''A Takımı'', which debuted in 1993, aired on channels like ATV, TGRT,

Kanal D Kanal D (English: Channel D) is a nationwide television channel in Turkey that is part of Demirören Group. It was founded by Ayhan Şahenk and Aydın Doğan in 1993. The network has also run an international channel, Euro D, since 1996, whic ...

, Kanal 6,

Show TV Show TV is a Turkish free-to-air national television channel, established in 1991 by Erol Aksoy, Dinç Bilgin, Haldun Simavi and Erol Simavi, owned by the Can Holding. History The channel replaces Cine5's now-defunct frequencies, and it was ...

, Flash TV, Star TV and Kanal 1. Savaş Ay interviewed as one of the last two journalists and took the last photo of the 17-year-old Erdal Eren in the prison before his execution. Eren was arrested after the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum. During ...

due to an alleged murder, tortured in the prison, and hanged despite being underage. In the 1996 movie '' İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında'' ("Istanbul Beneath My Wings"), he depicted a wine drinker in a supporting role. In 2001, he directed the movie '' Dansöz'' ("The Belly Dancer"), he wrote the screenplay of and played also in, which gained no success. In the 2007 comedy movie '' Maskeli Beşler: Irak'' ("The Masked Gang: Iraq"), he played himself in the television studio of "The A-Team". Savaş Ay suffered from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

for years. Due to disorder of his voice, he was not able to continue his television shows in his final years. He died on 9 November 2013 in a hospital at Samatya,

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 ...

, where he had been treated since 24 September 2013. He was survived by his singer son Ulaş Can Ay and daughter Sanem Dolun Ay.

References

1954 births 2013 deaths Writers from Gaziantep Turkish journalists Turkish photojournalists Milliyet people Sabah (newspaper) people Turkish television journalists Turkish male film actors Deaths from throat cancer in Turkey Burials at Topkapı Cemetery Actors from Gaziantep {{Turkey-journalist-stub