Journalist and writer (b. 21 September
1948, Ankara). His real name is Osman Cengiz. He attended primary school in
Ankara. He graduated from Tarsus American College (1966) and Ankara University,
Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Diplomatic and International
Relations (1970). He worked as an assistant of International Relations at the
Middle East Technical University for a short time (1979 and 81). He got into
trouble for his political activities as the Chairman of the Faculty of Political
Science Student Association after the 12 March military coup. He returned to
Turkey in 1974 after having lived in Damascus (where he was involved with the
Palestinian Resistance Movement for a short time) Beirut and afterwards in
Geneva, Paris and Amsterdam.
He started as a journalist at the
newspaper Vatan in 1976 became Chief
of the Foreign News Department and foreign policy reporter. He was foreign
policy reporter at the Turkish News Agency and in newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Güneş, Sabah, Yeni
Şafak, Dünden Bugüne Tercüman. He was called the “Middle East Expert” and
“War Correspondent” a short time after he had started in journalism. He worked
in the Lebanon, Iran and other centers of the Middle East in the first half of
the 80s. He traveled extensively. He returned to Middle Europe and the old
Soviet Union countries in the second half of the 80s. He worked as the special
advisor and was one of the closest people to President Turgut Özal between 1991
and 1993. Between 1993 and 1995, he turned his heart and mind to the Balkans,
mainly Bosnia. For a time he was one of the founding members and organizers
responsible for the unsuccessful “New Democracy Movement”, which was initiated
by Cem Boyner. He gave lectures on Middle Eastern History and Middle Eastern
Policy at İstanbul Bilgi University (1997- 99). He worked at important research
centers in Washington in the United States in the years 1999 and 2000 as the
first person from Turkey to be invited to work on “21st Century Turkey”. He is a
member of the Fenerbahçe Sport Club and organizer of the International Balkan
Conferences.
He became known for his inclination
towards a new style of thinking after his criticism of Marxism in 1980. As an
expert journalist on Middle Eastern issues, he attracted attention with his
interviews and commentaries. Apart from the newspapers that he worked for, his
articles were published in reviews such as Aydınlık
(1967-70), Proleter ve Devrimci Aydınlık (1970-71),
Güney (1977), Tempo (1988-89). He was chosen as the Journalist of the Year by the
Writers Union of Turkey in
WORKS:
Direnen Filistin (Resistant Palestine, 1976), Dünden Yarına İran (Iran From Yesterday to Tomorrow, 1981), Ortadoğu Çıkmazı (Middle East Dead-End,
1984), Tarihle Randevu (Meeting with
History, 1984), Ortadoğu Üzerine Aykırı
Düşünceler (Extraordinary Thoughts on the Middle East, 1984), Güneşin Yedi Rengi (Seven Colors of the
Sun, 1987), Benim Şehirlerim (My
Cities, 2000), Çıktık Açık Alınla - 28
Şubat Post Modern Darbe Geçidinde / 1996-2000 (We Set Off Blameless - In
the 28 February Post Modern Coup Parade 2000).
REFERENCE: Büyük Larousse (c. 5, s. 2569), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) - Ünlü Fikir ve Kültür Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 3, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), Cengiz Çandar'ın yeni adresi (odatv.com.tr, 11.01.2017).