Atilla Yayla

Atilla Yayla (born birth date|1957|3|3) is a Turkish political thinker and a proponent of liberal democracy. He is Professor of Politics, Political Economy and Political Philosophy at Gazi University in Turkey, and the current president of the "Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu" (Association for Liberal Thinking), a liberal think tank. [http://w3.gazi.edu.tr/web/ayayla/ Academic Web site] , Gazi University]

Yayla's views on Turkish history are controversial in Turkey, and have led to legal action against him in Turkish courts, which have driven the scholar into self-imposed exile.

Life and career

He was born in 1957 in Kaman, Kırşehir.

As an undergraduate, he studied economy at Ankara University, going on to earn a master's degree in public administration and a Ph.D in politics (1986).

He is a visiting professor at the University of Buckingham.cite web|url=http://www.buck.ac.uk/news/newsarchive2007/yayla.html|title=New Visiting Professor in Economics and International Studies|accessdate=2008-04-15] He was the winner of the Anthony Fisher Prize in 2000 for his book "Islam, Civil Society and Market Economy". Atilla Yayla was awarded the Personality of the Year Award by the Stockholm Network in 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.stockholm-network.org/downloads/press/GUWinners.pdf|title= Golden Umbrella Think Tank Awards |accessdate=2008-04-15]

Work and views

Atilla Yayla is the author of many books and articles in English and Turkish on terrorism, liberalism, constructivist rationalism, social justice, and Friedrich Hayek.

In a 1998 article "Türkiye'de İslam, İnsan Hakları ve Demokrasi" (Islam, Human Rights, and Democracy in Turkey), he suggests that the human rights and democracy should be implemented by Islamists in Turkey.cite web|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/30216|title=Anti-Turkish Hysteria from the Financial Times: A Challenge to Democracy|work=American Chronicle|author=Megalommatis, Muhammad Shamsaddin|publisher=Ultio LLC|date=2007-06-20|accessdate=2008-04-15|quote=Suffice it that you learn Turkish and read his brilliant publication "Türkiye'de İslam, İnsan Hakları ve Demokrasi" (1998); you will immediately realize that this theoretician of Turkey’s islamization and barbarization suggested that Human Rights and Democracy should be implemented in Turkey by … the Islamists!]

In 2006, Yayla was charged with insulting the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by pointing out that the early years of the republic were less democratic than the period after Turkey became a multi-party system,cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/world/europe/25turkey.html
accessdate=2008-07-01
title=Turkey to Alter Speech Law
date=2008-01-25
first=Sabrina
last=Tavernise
authorlink=Sabrina Tavernise
work=The New York Times] and the cult of personality that has grown up around Atatürk since. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7212452.stm
accessdate=2008-07-01
first=Sarah
last=Rainsford
title=Academic sentenced over Ataturk
work=BBC News
date=2008-01-28]

Court case and exile

Yayla's views on Atatürk and the early years of the Turkish Republic led newspapers to proclaim him a traitor. [cite news
work=Yeni Asır
title=Hain Sözler (Treacherous Remarks)
date=2006-11-19
url=http://arsiv.yeniasir.com.tr/ya2006/11/19/index.php3?kat=ana&sayfa=ilks3&bolum=gunluk
language=Turkish
first=Nuray
last=Kaya
accessdate=2008-07-01] [cite news
language=Turkish
url=http://arsiv.yeniasir.com.tr/ya2006/11/20/index.php3?kat=ana&sayfa=ilks1&bolum=gunluk
date=2006-11-20
title=Haine Tepkiler Yağıyor (The Traitor Receives Flak)
work=Yeni Asır
first=Devrim
last=İnce
accessdate=2008-07-01] [cite news
url=http://yenisafak.com.tr/yorum/?t=07.02.2008&i=97113
accessdate=2008-07-01
work=Yeni Şafak
title=Yayla'yı kim mahkum etti? (Who condemned Yayla?)
date=2008-07-02
first=Murat
last=Yilmaz
language=Turkish] [cite news
url=http://arsiv.yeniasir.com.tr/ya2006/11/29/index.php3?kat=sarma&sayfa=yelidemir&bolum=yazarlar
work=Yeni Asır
title=Hakaretin adı, fikir özgürlüğü (The insult is called freedom of thought)
language=Turkish
first=Yücel
last=Elidemir
date=2006-11-29
accessdate=2008-07-01] In a court case, he was convicted and received a suspended 15 month jail sentence, which he will appeal. [cite web |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL2870693820080128?sp=true |title=Turkish academic convicted of insulting Ataturk |date=2008-01-28 |publisher=Reuters UK |accessdate=2008-01-29|author=Daren Butler and Gareth Jones] [cite news
url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-01-28-3811655770_x.htm
accessdate=2008-07-01
title=Professor convicted of insulting Ataturk
work=USA Today
date=2008-01-28] Yayla was also dismissed temporarily from his academic post. Since then, he has been living in self-imposed exile in England.

Books

Several of Yayla's books are published by "Liberte Yayınları" (Liberte Publications), a company associated with the "Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu".

*"On Terrorism" (1990)
*"Liberalism" (1992,1994,1997,2000,2003)
*"Liberal Approaches" (1993, 2000)
*"The Road to Freedom" (1993, 2000)
*"Social and Political Theory" (ed.) (1994, 2000)
*"Rules and Order" (Turkish translation of book by F.A. Hayek, 1994)
*"On the Welfare Party" (with Melih Yürüsen) (1996, in Turkish and German)
*"On Turkish Political Parties" (with Melih Yürüsen) (1996, in Turkish and German)
*"Introduction to Political Theory" (1998)
*"Islam, Civil Society and the Market Economy" (ed.) (1999, in English)
*"Road to Freedom: the Social and Economic Philosophy of Hayek" (2000, in Turkish)
*"Guide to Protect Democracy" (2001, in Turkish)
*"Statist Mentality and Market Economy" (2001, in Turkish)
*"Dictionary of Political Thought" (2007, 5th ed., in Turkish)
*"Market Civilization" (2004, in Turkish)

elected Articles

*“Terrorism: A Conceptual Framework” (1980)
*cite journal
title=Terrorism in Turkey
publisher=Ankara University
journal=SBF dergisi
issn=0378-2921
year=1989
volume=44
issue=3
pages=249–262
url=http://www.politics.ankara.edu.tr/dergi/pdf/44/3/14_atilla_yayla.pdf
*“On Theories of Justice” (1991)
*“Constructivist Rationalism, Justice, and Socialism” (1993)
*“The Theoretical and Actual Meaning of Human Rights” (1994)
*“Minorities and Religious Freedom in Democracies: The Case of the Amish Community” (1997, in English and Turkish)
*“Cultural Clashes Between Minorities and Larger Society in Democracies” (in English, 1997)
*“Islam, Secularism and Democracy in Turkey” (1998)
*“Information Age: Some Misunderstandings” (1998)
*“A Guide to ‘Protect' Democracy” (2000)
*cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/06/opinion/edyayla.php
accessdate=2008-07-01
title=Freedom of expression in Turkey
date=2006-12-07
work=International Herald Tribune
*" [http://www.isil.org/rights-alert/atilla-yayla.html Freedom of Expression Under Attack in Turkey] ". International Society for Individual Liberty.

References

* [http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/international/staff/public/yayla.html Publications list] , University of Buckingham

External links

* http://www.atillayayladestek.org/