Yalçın Küçük is a Turkish socialist writer, philosopher, economist, historian and media pundit, recognized for his historical studies on the late-Ottoman and Republican periods in the history of Turkey and Soviet economic development from a Marxist perspective and also his interest in crypto-Judaism in Turkey and criticism of the Justice and Development Party. He was detained for 682 days in relation to the Odatv case of the Ergenekon trials. In August 2013 he was sentenced to 22 years and six months, later to be released on 12/12/13.
His first job was in the State Planning Board, where he eventually oversaw the Long Term Planning department. In 1966 he found a position at the Middle East Technical University. He was fired after the 1971 coup. Before the coup he wrote calling for a "Socialist Revolution" and a socialist administration in Turkey in the leftist publications Yön, Emek, Ant. He is also well known for his bitter criticisms of another strategy called "National Democratic Revolution". In 1973, he became a reserve officer at the Polatlı Artillery school. Afterward he ran the economy department of the establishment newspaper, Cumhuriyet. He also ran the economy bulletin of the Anka news agency. He soon devoted himself to leftist causes, such as editing the newspaper Yürüyüş and relaunching of the Workers Party of Turkey. The party kicked him and some others out in 1978; so, they launched a magazine called Socialist Power the next year. In 1979 he joined Ankara University but was again dismissed after the next coup, in 1980. He returned to academia at Gazi University, and retired in 1987.
Retirement
In his retirement he continued to write for Social Deliverance and Always Forward. In 1993 he interviewed the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Öcalan in Syria's Bekaa Valley. Numerous photographs were leaked depicting Öcalan providing Küçük with a tour of the camp, and dining with him. Küçük's photographs with Abdullah Öcalan were in fact published in his own books and journals edited by Küçük himself in the 1990s during his contact with PKK. He asserted on various TV channels and in interviews that these photographs were neither secret nor a cause for shame. As a social scientist and a socialist he analyzed what he claimed was the most powerful insurgency against the Turkish state. Kurdish political organizations other than the PKK claimed that Küçük "Kemalized" Öcalan by persuading him to turn his back on separatism. He left for Paris in 1993 as a protest against president Süleyman Demirel and the fact that a brothel owner, Matild Manukyan, was the highest taxpayer, but returned after the 1997 "post-modern" coup. However, he was sentenced to two years in prison for spreading separatist propaganda. He briefly had a show on Sky Türk called Pens and Swords but it got pulled allegedly after complaints from the government and the former chief of general staff, Yaşar Büyükanıt. His houses in Karakusunlar, Ankara and Balat, Istanbul were searched in January 2009 in the context of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. His lawyer, Dursun Ermiş, arrived at Küçük's home in Ankara to field journalists' questions. The search warrant was issued by the Ninth Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul. The police were searching for documents pertaining to the Ergenekon network. He was later detained for 682 days in relation to the Odatv case of the Ergenekon trials, and remains under indictment.
Selected bibliography
Küçük is a prolific writer:
Türkiye üzerine Tezler - 5 volumes '
Aydın Üzerine Tezler - 5 volumes '
100 Soruda Planlama Kalkınma ve Türkiye '
Endüstrileşmenin Temel Sorunları: Sovyet Deneyimi '
