Journalist-writer, politician. He was born on 20th
July 1932, in Istanbul. His full name is Mehmet Altan Öymen. He is the son of
the educationist Hıfzı Raşit Rahman Öymen and the brother of journalist-writer
Örsan Öymen and diplomat Onur Öymen. He graduated from Ankara Atatürk High
School (1949) and from Faculty of Political Sciences in Ankara University
(1955). He embarked his journalist career in Ulus newspaper as a
reporter in assembly while he was still a student. Afterwards, he worked as a
writer, an office agent, an editor in newspapers; Yeni Ulus, Pazar Postası,
Halkçı, Demoktrat İzmir, Cumhuriyet and in magazines; Yeni Gün, Akis,
Kim and Öncü and worked as an editor-in-chief in (1987-95). After the 27th May
(1960) coup, he became a member of the constituent assembly (1961). He worked
as the head of Association of Journalists of Ankara and as the Press Counselor
of Turkey in Bonn (1966). In 1971 he established Ankara Haber Ajansı (T.N. News
Agency) with his brother Örsan Öymen and Müşerref Hekimoğlu in Ankara.
Altan Öymen was elected to the parliament as the
deputy of Ankara from the Cumhuriyet Halk Party (CHP). In the second government
of Ecevit, he became the Minister of Tourism and Promotion and the group deputy
chairman of CHP and deputy secretary general of CHP (1979-80). After the 12th
September (1980) coup, he returned to journalism. In the election of 1995, he
was elected to the parliament as the deputy of Istanbul, and he became the
group deputy chairman of the party. He was elected as the general president of
the CHP in emergency plenary session held in 1999 when theparty failed to pass
the 10% national threshold needed to enter to Parliament. In the following
year’s plenary session, he passed over his office to Deniz Baykal.
WORKS:
RESEARCHES: Mobilya Dosyası (With
Uğur Mumcu, 1977), Geleceği Yakalamak (2000).
JOURNAL: Bir Dönem Bir Çocuk
(2002), Değişim Yılları (2004).
