Journalist, writer and statesman (b. 1940, İstanbul – d. 24 January 2007, İstanbul). His full name is İsmail Cem İpekçi. He graduated from Robert College and Lausanne University, Faculty of Law (1962). After he worked at the newspapers Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, he was appointed as General Director of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation in the period of the Republican People’s Party- National Salvation Party coalition government (1974). He worked as editor-in-chief at the newspaper Politika that he established with Ercan Araklı and Kadri Kayabal (1975). After Politika finished, he went to Paris and stayed in Europe for a while. After he came back to Turkey he wrote anecdotes in Güneş newspaper (1982). He joined the Social Democratic Populist Party that he helped establish and he was a member of the Central Resolution Administration Committee (1986). In the 1987 and 1991 elections he was elected as an İstanbul parliamentary deputy for this party. He worked as member and vice-chairman of the Socialist Group at the European Council Parliamentary Assembly. In 1995 and 1999 election he was elected again as a deputy for the Democratic Left Party. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the coalition of the Motherland Party, Democratic Left Party and Democratic Turkish Party (1997) and the coalition of the Motherland Party, Democratic Left Party and Nationalist Action Party (1999). In 2002 he resigned from the Democratic Left Party and with his associates founded the New Turkey Party. Afterwards, this party merged with the Republican People’s Party. In addition to his political life he continued to write for Milliyet newspaper. He is known for his work Türkiye'de Geri Kalmışlığın Tarihi (The History of Underdevelopment in Turkey).
WORKS:
Türkiye'de Geri Kalmışlığın Tarihi (The History of Underdevelopment in Turkey, 1970), Türkiye Üzerine (About Turkey, 1970), Tarih Açısından 12 Mart (12 March on the Historical Side, 2 volumes, 1973, 1979), TRT'de 500 Gün (500 Days in the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, 1976), Sosyal Demokrasi Nedir Ne Değildir (What is Social Democracy or What is Not?, 1985, new publication with the name Sosyal Demokrasi ya da Demokratik Sosyalizm Nedir Ne Değildir -What is Social Democracy or Democratic Socialism and What It Is Not,? 1998).
REFERENCE,: Cem, İsmail (Milliyet Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi, c. 5, 1986), Vitrindekiler (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 15.10.1998), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2007) – Ünlü Fikir ve Kültür Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 3, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Fomous People (2013), Türkiye Kültür ve Sanat 2008 Yıllığı (2008), Can Dündar / Ben Böyle Veda Etmeliyim & İsmail Cem Kitabı (2010), Ozan Örmeci / Bir Türk Sosyal Demokratı: İsmail Cem (2011) - Portrait of a Turkish Social Democrat: İsmail Cem (2011).
