# Ahmet Emin Yalman

Ahmet Emin Yalman (14 May 1888 – 19 December 1972) was a Turkish Sabbatean (crypto-jew) journalist, publisher, professor and influential policy-advisor in the Republic of Turkey. He was a liberal and opposed the spread of the Nazi ideology in his home country.

## Early life and education

Ahmet Emin Yalman was born into a Dönmeh family in 1888 in Thessaloniki, at that time part of the Ottoman Empire. His early education was diverse and he attended several schools in Thessaloniki, amongst them a primary school with Sabbatean influences, then the military middle school where his father Osman Tefviq Bey was the teacher of calligraphy. Following some difficulties Yalman ran into with his teachers, his father decided to enroll him into the German school in Selanik. In 1903, as his father was employed in the Ottoman Press directorate in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), he attended the Deutsche Schule Istanbul in Beyoğlu where he learned German and English. Following his graduation, Yalman began to work as a translator for the newspaper Sabah as well as the Ottoman Government. He also attempted to study law at the Darülfünun in Istanbul, but was not able to finish his schooling there. From 1911 onwards, Yalman studied political science at Columbia University, from where he earned a Ph.D in 1914.

## Professional career

After Yalman returned to Istanbul, he worked with Ziya Gökalp at the Darülfünun and was a journalist for the newspaper Tanin. For Tanin, he covered the World War I from the various battle fronts in which the German Empire was involved. Following his return to Istanbul, he established the newspaper Vakit in October 1917.
In 1919, due to his opposition to the government of Damat Ferid Pasha, Yalman was exiled for three months to Kutahya by the order of the Sultan Mehmed VI. In 1920, he was exiled again, this time by the British Occupation forces for his support of the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP).
Yalman was released in 1921 and joined the forces of the Ankara government around Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Atatürk sent him to cover the several battle fronts in the Turkish War of Independence. In 1923, he founded the newspaper Vatan. Following this he became a fierce critic of Kemalist Government, especially of Prime Minister İsmet İnönü who demanded the imposition of the law for the restoration of order during the Sheikh Said rebellion. Due to this opposition, Yalman had to stand trial in front of the Independence Tribunals and was banned from journalistic activities until 1936. During this period, he involved in business and became a representative of various American companies. When he was allowed to resume his journalistic activities he worked for the Tan newspaper.
In 1940, Yalman was able to reestablish the Vatan. In 1952, a nationalist student attempted to murder him but the assault failed and the student was sentenced to twenty years in prison. In the end of the Menderes era, he was imprisoned and condemned to over one-year imprisonment, but was released after the military coup of 1960. He died on 19 December 1972 in Istanbul.

## Work and awards

Yalman was the founder, and for many years the editor, of the influential Turkish nationalist newspaper Vatan. He was also one of the founders of the Liberal International in 1947 and the International Press Institute in 1950.
He published three books in English, one in German, and more than ten in Turkish, including a four volume autobiography. Titles include The Development of Modern Turkey as Measured by Its Press (1914), An Experiment in Clean Journalism (1950), Turkey In My Time (1956), and Turkey in the World War (1930).
Yalman received numerous awards, including the Golden Pen of Freedom of the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers in 1961 and The Gold Medal of the British Institute of Journalists.