Emin Çölaşan
Emin Çölaşan (born 14 March 1942) is a Turkish investigative journalist, whose daily column appeared in the mass-circulation newspaper, Istanbul-based "Hürriyet", for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007, . Since 2007, he continues his column in "Sözcü". Family background. A native of Ankara, Emin Çölaşan was born into a Cretan Turkish family whose surname, which literally means "desert strider", is a reference to his grandfather who was exiled by Sultan Abdülhamid II deep into the Fizan desert interior of Libya for 7 years because of taking part in the Young Turk movement. His maternal grandfather, Refik Şevket  İnce, born in Polichnitos near Mytilene (modern-day Greek island of Lesbos), served under the country's leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and, subsequently, in ministerial posts during the 1920s and into the 1950s, and his father served in the State Meteorological Service where he was a general director for 14 years, one of the longest. His wife Tansel (born 1943), who held the position of chief advocate for the Turkish Council of State (Danıştay), was the president of Atatürk Thought Association. He has no children. Education and career. Çölaşan finished his secondary studies in TED Ankara College and graduated from  the Middle East Technical University with a degree in management studies. For a decade, he worked in various public institutions and started his journalism career in 1977 at the Istanbul daily "Milliyet", shifting in 1985 as a regular columnist for "Hürriyet", an influential position which he has maintained for nearly a quarter of a century. He is also the author of numerous books which focus primarily on malpractices within governmental and public circles in Turkey, as well as an instigator and/or party in frequent polemics centering on his discoveries of official malfeasance and misconduct. Controversies. Çölaşan had been a critic  of Turgut Özal, Turkey's Prime Minister from 1983 to 1989, who became the target of his 1980s bestseller books "Turgut'un Serüveni" "[Turgut's Adventure]" and "Turgut Nereden Koşuyor?" "[Where is Turgut Running From?]". Çölaşan also criticized the incumbent AKP government, which is known to be the reason behind his 13 August 2007 firing from "Hürriyet" after 22 years of service. A strong and passionate nationalist, Çölaşan has criticized the government's plans regarding the Kurdish problem. Emin Çölaşan is a secularist, has accused the AKP government for Islamism. His books published: