Yekta Güngör Özden

Poet and writer (b. 5 June 1932, Niksar / Tokat). He attended Ulucan Primary School (1941), Niksar Elementary School (1946), Sivas High School (1951) and graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Law (1956). He was an executive board member of Ankara University, Students Association and Head of the Publications Commission of the Turkish National Students Federation during his years at the university. He worked at Ankara University, Faculty of Agriculture and in the Personnel Department of the General Directorate of Highways. In 1956, he began to work as a probationer at the Ankara Bar of which he became general secretary in 1965-66 and chairman in 1972-74, while working as a teacher and lecturer. He worked as an independent lawyer until he was elected as a member of the Supreme Court in 1979. He represented in court, the Republican People’s Party, the newspaper Ulus, institutions such as the Middle East Technical University and famous people like İsmet İnönü and Bülent Ecevit. He was the vice-president of the National Youth Organization of Turkey in 1960-61 and was one of the founders of Turkish Revolutionary Guild in Ankara and also the founding chairman of the Turkish Association of Jurists. He was elected the vice-chairman of the Supreme Court in 1988, where he became the chairman in 1991 and 1995.

When he retired, he became the chairman of the Kemalist Thought Association (1998), the chairman of the Turkish Law Foundation (2000) and the chairman of the Republican Democracy Party (2002). He gave lectures on the Problems of Constitution and Political Systems for graduate and doctorate students at Hacettepe University and on Constitutional Jurisdiction and History of Turkish Revolution at Ufuk University. He is a member of the Turkish Association for Cancer Research and Control, the Kemalist Thought Association, the Association in Support of Contemporary Living, the Turkish Foundation of Law and the Turkish Philosophical Foundation.

His articles and poems were published in the newspapers Ulus (1966-70), Milliyet (1979-86), Cumhuriyet (1980-86), Akşam (1967), Barış (1971-80), Ankara Ekspres (1986), Yeni Asır (1984), Sesimiz (Tokat, 1980-86), Tokat Postası, Öğretmen (1967), Niksar'ın Sesi (1970-80), Dünya (1980), Bugün (1972-75) and in the reviews Varlık (1953-57), Devrim Gençliği (1952-54), Devrimci (1960-61), Kemalist Ülkü, Devinim, Yeni Adalet, Sanat Çevresi, Türk Dili (1953-85), Çağdaş Türk Dili, Yazko, Karşı, Aykırı Sanat, Yeni Adana, Türk Solu, Düşün, Devlet, Yankı (1980-85), Mülkiyeliler Birliği, İş Bankası, SSK, Atatürkçü Düşünce. He published the review Türkiye Hukuk Dergisi (1975, 4 issues) and he was an editorial board member of the review Ankara Barosu Dergisi. He wrote lyrics to ten songs, two marches and a symphony. He is the writer of the “Oath of the Bar” in Attorney Law and of the “Oath of Independence” of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

He received the Atatürk Award from various associations and was elected the “Jurist of the Year” several times. He was acknowledged with honorary doctorates by many universities. He collected the Turkish Language Honorary Award of the Language Society in 1988, the Paul Haris Amity Medal of the International Rotary given by the Ankara Rotary Clubs in 1995 and the Honorary Award of the Arts Foundation in 1998. A park in Batıkent in Ankara was named after him.

WORKS:

POETRY: Dilek (Wish, 1953), Taş Ayna (Stone Mirror, 1960), Bir Gün Belki (Maybe One Day, 1981), Atatürk    

İçin Şiirler (Poems for Atatürk, 1981), Çağrı Barışa, Özgürlüğe, Mutluluğa (A Call to Peace, Freedom and Happiness, 1991), Yüreğim Güneş (My Heart’s a Sun, 1991), Tançiçeği (Flower of Dawn, selected poems from formerly published works, 1998), Atatürk Şiirleri (Poems on Atatürk, 1998), Kendine Tutsak Yürek (A Heart Captured by Itself, 2001).

ESSAY-RESEARCH: Devrimci (Revolutionary, collaborative work, 1960), Hukukun Üstünlüğüne Saygı (Respect for the Superiority of Law, 1990), İnsan Hakları, Laiklik, Demokrasi Yolunda (On the Way of Human Rights, Secularism and Democracy, 1994), Her Zaman Atatürk (Forever Atatürk, 1994), Her Zaman Atatürk’le (Forever with Atatürk, 1995), Atatürk Sizsiniz (You are Atatürk, 1995), Atatürk Türkiye’dir (Atatürk is Turkey, 1997), Atatürk Ölümsüzdür (Atatürk is Immortal, 1997), Atatürk ve Din (Atatürk and Religion, 1999), Hukuk ve Demokrasi Savaşımı (The Fight for Law and Democracy, 2001), Cumhuriyetçi Demokrasi (Republican Democracy, 2001), Atatürk ve Atatürkçülük (Atatürk and Kemalism, 2003), Laiklik İçin (For Secularism, 2004), Müdafaa-i Hukuk Ruhu, Kuva-yı Milliye Ateşi (The Spirit of Defense of Rights, The Zeal of National Forces, 2004). 

COLLECTION: T.C. Anayasası (The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, 1971), Atatürk ve Hukuk (Atatürk and the Law, 1982), Başveren Bir İnkılâpçı (A Revolutionary Who Died, by Falih Rıfkı Atay, 1983), T.C. Anayasası, Anayasa Mahkemesi Kuruluş Yasası ve İçtüzüğü (The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, Foundation Law and the Internal Regulations of the Supreme Court, 1987), Hukuk Rehberi (A Guide for Law, 1967; 7. edition, 1987), Anayasa Yargısı (The Jurisdiction of the Constitution, 1996).

ANTHOLOGY: Aşkımız Şiirimiz (Our Love, Our Poetry, 1999).