Who is Uğur Mumcu, a lawyer, journalist, writer and one of the pioneers of investigative journalism in Turkey? What are his works and subjects? On which subjects did he stand out with his investigations? Why and how was Uğur Mumcu murdered?
Who is Uğur Mumcu?
He was born on August 22, 1942 in Kırşehir. After graduating from Ankara Devrim Primary School, Cumhuriyet Secondary School and Ankara Bahçelievler Trial High School, he started his education at Ankara University Faculty of Law in 1961. As a student, he won the Yunus Nadi Award for his article published in Cumhuriyet newspaper on August 26, 1962. In 1963, he was elected president of the faculty student association. He graduated in 1965. Between 1969 and 1972, he worked as an assistant at Ankara University Faculty of Law.
Uğur Mumcu's Journalism
Before the March 12 Memorandum of March 12, Mumcu was a columnist for the newspaper "Devrim" under the management of Doğan Avcıoğlu, but after the Memorandum he was arrested and put on trial. For this reason, he completed his military service as an "objectionable infantryman" in Ağrı Patnos. After his military service, Uğur Mumcu worked as a columnist for the newspaper "Yeni Ortam" and also worked at the Anka Agency. From 1975 onwards, he began writing regularly for Cumhuriyet newspaper in his column titled "Observation".
In his columns, Uğur Mumcu both articulated the problems and also took on unlawful and illegal practices. During this period, with the contribution of his legal education, he described the events that were the subject of the investigation in a language that ordinary people could easily understand, while at the same time he continued to write on the issues he dealt with until they were concluded by following up on the intellectuals. Aiming to write and convey only the truth, independent of any power centers, political parties, formations or organizations, Mumcu adopted the motto "one cannot have an opinion without having information" as his fundamental principle.
Uğur Mumcu's works
In 1975, while working at the Anka Agency, he and Altan Öymen published a book titled "Furniture File" on the fictitious furniture exports of Süleyman Demirel's nephew Yahya Demirel. Thus, the concept of "fictitious exports" entered the public agenda.
In 1975, the book "Suçlular ve Güçlüler" (Criminals and the Powerful) was published about the March 12 period. In 1977, the books "Sakıncalı Piyade" and "Bir Pulsuz Dilekçe" were published. Mumcu, whose book "Our Elders" was published in 1978, closely followed the terrorist incidents in the period leading up to September 12. Realizing that the source of terror and violence was arms smuggling, Mumcu wrote many columns and series of articles on this subject.
His book "Dead End Street", in which he reflected the experiences of youth leaders before and after the March 12 period from their own mouths and drew attention to the fact that nothing could be achieved through armed actions, was published in 1979. He compiled his works with the books "Arms Smuggling and Terror" in 1981 and "Freedom without Terror" in 1982.
In 1981, after Abdi İpekçi's murderer Mehmet Ali Ağca attempted to kill the Pope in Italy, he intensified his investigations and research on Ağca. In 1982 his book "Ağca File" was published and in 1983 he interviewed Ağca in prison.
In 1987, his books "Rabıta" and "12 September Justice", which are considered a great success in terms of investigative journalism, and in 1991, one of his most important researches, "Kurdish-Islamic Uprising 1919-1925", were published.
In 1991, he left Cumhuriyet newspaper due to a crisis in its management. Between February 1 and May 3, 1992, Mumcu wrote temporarily for Milliyet newspaper and returned to Cumhuriyet on May 7, 1992.
Uğur Mumcu assassination
On January 24, 1993, he was assassinated in front of his house on Karlı Street in Ankara when a bomb exploded in his car. Before his assassination, he had been working on the Kurdish issue from a point of view that distinguished between the PKK and the Kurdish problem.