Zihni Çakır (born 1969, Nizip) is a Turkish journalist and author known for publishing several books on the Ergenekon organization.
Background edit
Çakır was born in 1969 in Nizip, Gaziantep Province, and graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Communication. He worked in various media as a correspondent and in managerial roles; at one point he was editor-in-chief of Türkeli, a publication associated with Vatansever Kuvvetler Güç Birliği Hareketi.[1]
Books edit
Çakır has published several books on the Ergenekon organization.
In 2008 Çakır was sentenced to 18 months in prison for "violating the secrecy of an investigation" in relation to the Ergenekon trials.[2][3] In 2009 Çakır complained that a court had forced him to reveal sources relating to his book Kod adı darbe.[4][5] Among other topics this book "argued that [Özdemir] Sabancı’s murder was organized by Abdullah Çatlı, Hüseyin Kocadağ and military officer Hüseyin Pepekal."[6]
Çakır said in 2008 that the head of Ergenekon, known to him only as "Number One", was involved in the 1997 military memorandum.[7] He later told the Ergenekon trials that the man had visited the Türkeli newspaper while he worked there.[8]
Bibliography edit
- Ergenekon'un çöküşü ("The Collapse of Ergenekon"), NEDEN? KİTAP, 2008
- Kod adı darbe: Gizli Belgeler,Telefon Dinleme Kayıtları ve Krokilerle Ergenekon'un Kodları ("Codename coup"), NEDEN? KİTAP, 2008
- Ergenekon'un çöküşü 2: Dünden bugüne devletin derinliklerindeki kirli ilişkiler, NEDEN? KİTAP, 2008
- Gladio Korku İmparatorluğu , PROFİL YAYINCILIK, 2009
- Konsept Savaşı: Ercümen-i Daniş Sarmalında
References edit
- ^ Tuncay Opçin, Yeni Aktüel, "Ergenekon'u çökerten" adamın bilinmeyen portresi; undated, but evidently shortly after Çakır's arrest on 24 May 2008
- ^ Today's Zaman, 18 November 2008, Ergenekon author convicted, court says Ergenekon is a myth
- ^ Bianet, 27 May 2008, Ergenekon Investigation Takes In The Journalist Zihni Çakır
- ^ Today's Zaman, 31 December 2009, Prime minister pledges to expand press freedom
- ^ Today's Zaman, 21 November 2008, Turkey-press scan - "Telephone conversations between Hakkı Yalçınkaya, judge of the Basic Criminal Court in Şişli district of Istanbul, and Kemal Kerinçsiz, lawyer and suspect of the Ergenekon case, have created a shocking impact. Yalçınkaya, during conversations, asked Kerincsez whether he had any command. Now, journalist-writer Zihni Çakır who was sentenced to imprisonment by Yalçınkaya for his books "Collapse of Ergenekon 1-2" is getting ready to denounce the judge to the Prosecutor's Office"
- ^ Today's Zaman, 24 January 2009, How Ergenekon evolved: the near past of a clandestine organization
- ^ Today's Zaman, 28 July 2008, Çakır: Mysterious No. 1 played part in Feb. 28 process
- ^ Today's Zaman, 17 July 2012, Witness Çakır describes Ergenekon’s mysterious No. 1 Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine