İlhan Selçuk

Who was İlhan Selçuk?

İlhan Selçuk was a Turkish lawyer, journalist, author, novelist and editor.

Selcuk was born in the western Turkish Aydın Province in 1925. His mother, who was Armenian, hid her Armenian roots. He earned a law degree from Istanbul University in 1950. He began writing for magazines and newspapers after his graduation. He also authored numerous books and novels. His works included Ağlamak ve Gülmek, Japon Gülü, Ziverbey Köşku, Güzel Amerikalı and Düşünüyorum Öyleyse Vurun.

Selcuk was one of those detained and tortured at the Ziverbey Villa after the 1971 Turkish coup d'état.

Selcuk was the editor in chief of the Cumhuriyet, a secular Turkish daily newspaper. He was detained on March 21, 2008, as part of the Ergenekon investigation. Colleagues and opposition politicians, including Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People's Party, blamed Selcuk's detention and investigation for Selcuk's declining health and death. Selcuk was released the following day and placed on trial without an arrest.

İlhan Selçuk died in Istanbul of multiple organ failure on June 21, 2010, at the age of 85. He had been hospitalized at the Vehbi Koç Foundation American Hospital since January 24, 2010, for treatment of ischemic brain disease and a recent stroke. Selçuk was buried in the Hacıbektaş district of Nevşehir next to his brother, Turhan Selçuk, a caricaturist who died in March 2010.