Book | 82 Years in Turkey in the Mirror of a Life by Osman Ulagay

Mavi Boncuk | OSMAN ULAGAY’S ‘82 YEARS IN TURKEY

E:  ulagayosman@gmail.com

‘82 Years in Turkey in the Mirror of a Life’ (Doğan Kitap). This book includes Osman Ulagay’s[1] world of thought that has been shaped since his childhood, his educational life, his journalistic adventure and his comments on Turkey’s critical turning points. He conveys his observations as a journalist, his relationships with decision-makers, economic and political changes in an original style during the process extending from May 27 to March 12, from September 12 to the 2001 crisis and the rise of the AKP. This biography, written about the transformation of Turkey and the world, presents Ulugay’s critical perspective, his observations that transcend time and his intellectual knowledge.

"I was born in Istanbul in May 1943, at a time when the world was scorched by war. Turkey had managed to stay out of World War II, but the shadow of war was felt in every segment of society. I opened my eyes to life during this chaotic period; years later, in 2021, when Turkey was shaken by a completely different crisis and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was governing the country with his own will, I decided to write my memoirs. I have closely followed Turkey and the world throughout my forty-year career as a journalist. The notes I took during this process formed the basis of the books I wrote. 

The process that began with the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic in March 2020 deeply affected our lives. As a journalist in the high-risk group, I locked myself at home and began to go back to the past and write down my experiences one by one. This process was both a personal reckoning and an effort to make a note in Turkey's history. Knowing that writing a memoir has its own rules and subtleties, while I was looking for someone with experience who could guide me on this subject, my sister Melek Ulagay came to my rescue and recommended two experienced people. That's how I met Adalet Çavdar and Hasan Hayyam Meriç. The suggestions Adalet and Hayyam made about the book and the different questions they asked me allowed me to delve into depths I hadn't thought about before.

My passion for learning was one of the strongest motivations that shaped me from a young age. I grew up as a child who did not settle for cliché answers and never gave up on questioning. This curiosity brought me together with different jobs and different environments; eventually, it allowed me to step into journalism. I tried many jobs before journalism, and this process helped me understand what I did not want to do. When I think about what feelings were at the forefront when I was writing my memoirs, the first thing that comes to mind is my childhood. I grew up in a privileged environment compared to my peers, and thanks to my mother, I was introduced to world classics written for children when I was only 7-8 years old. My encounter with literature at a young age affected my perspective on life, and thanks to this, I understood the difference between good and bad better. I was a success-oriented child, but I also learned that the path to success had rules. I never gave any importance to success achieved through tyranny or money. Earning a lot of money was never my primary goal throughout my life. At the age of thirty, I decided to go to England and do a master's degree in economics at the University of Manchester. During this period, I sent articles to Cumhuriyet newspaper under the title of “England Letter” and continued journalism with more determination after my return from England. In 1980, I accepted Hasan Cemal’s offer and started preparing the economy page of Cumhuriyet newspaper. That day was the step that started a new era in my journalism career.

 

In the newspapers I worked for and the books I wrote, I tried to address both the developments on Turkey’s agenda and the transformations in the world economy from different perspectives. At the point Turkey reached in 2020, it had become almost impossible to do journalism. Writing in this period when a one-man regime ruled was not only a personal reckoning, but also a responsibility. I carefully observed and recorded these processes in which Turkey was shaken by economic crises and state resources were distributed to supporters. This book tells not only my personal story; it also tells the story of Turkey, which went through great transformations with me." OSMAN ULAGAY

[1] Osman Ulagay was born in Istanbul to an industrialist family. He graduated from Robert College and the economics department of Robert College, which later became Boğaziçi University. He received his master's degree in economics from the University of Manchester in England with his thesis on "Kemalism and National Development." 

His grandfather is İbrahim Etem Ulagay and his sister is the director Melek Ulagay. He started journalism when the articles he sent from England, where he went for academic education, were published in Cumhuriyet newspaper under the title "England Letters". He married Büşra Ersanlı's sister Sırma. After their divorce, Sırma Ersanlı married Doğu Perinçek. When he returned to Türkiye in 1981, he worked as the head of the economics department at the same newspaper until 1992.

He married Meral Tamer during these years.

He worked as an economics page editor and columnist for Cumhuriyet, Sabah and Milliyet newspapers from 1981 onwards. He left his column in Milliyet in 2010 of his own volition. He worked as a columnist for T24 and various publications for many years. He has been writing weekly articles in Dünya newspaper since 2013. Ulagay's articles have been published in many magazines. Ulagay has 17 published books.