Yonca Verdioğlu Şık, wife of Turkish Workers' Party (TİP) Istanbul Deputy Ahmet Şık, was detained within the scope of the investigation carried out on charges of "political or military espionage". So, who is Ahmet Şık? How old is TİP Deputy Ahmet Şık and where is he from? Who is Ahmet Şık's wife and why was she detained?
WHO IS AHMET ŞİK?
Ahmet Şık was born on May 10, 1970 in Adana, the son of Fatma and Hüseyin Şık. He has two brothers named Bülent and Uğur and is originally from Kumluca, Antalya. He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism. He started his career as an intern reporter at Milliyet newspaper when he was in the first year of university. Between 1991 and 2007, he worked as a reporter for Cumhuriyet, Evrensel and Yeni Yüzyıl newspapers and Nokta magazine, and as a photojournalist at Reuters news agency.
LIFE AND POLITICAL CAREER OF AHMET ŞIK
Ahmet Şık became a parliamentary candidate from the People's Democratic Party in the 2018 general elections and was elected as an Istanbul deputy and entered the parliament. He announced that he resigned from his party on May 4, 2020. He joined the Workers' Party of Türkiye on April 19, 2021. He is a member of the National Solidarity, Fraternity and Democracy Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
In a speech at the European Parliament, Şık said, "I am not extremely secular or a radical Kemalist," and in one of his articles, he stated that he was not a liberal, but a socialist.
CASES ABOUT
Ahmet Şık was first tried and acquitted under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for the interview titled "The Soldier Should Retain His Hands from Internal Security" published in Nokta magazine after the assassination of Hrant Dink and the interview titled "That Day in Bayrampaşa" with Münevver Köz, a survivor of the women's ward of Bayrampaşa Prison, on the anniversary of the Operation Return to Life.
Guide to Understanding Counter-Guerrilla and Ergenekon and Who's Who in Ergenekon?, which he wrote together with his colleague Ertuğrul Mavioğlu from Radikal newspaper. He was acquitted on May 13, 2011, in the case where he was tried for three years in prison for allegedly "violating the confidentiality of the Ergenekon Investigation" in his books.
He was detained on March 3, 2011, after a search was made at his home and in his room at Istanbul Bilgi University within the scope of the Ergenekon Investigation. While being taken out of his house under police custody, Şık shouted "Whatever is touched gets burned" and told his lawyer Bülent Utku that he thought he was detained because of the book he had recently prepared, describing the organization of the Fethullah Gülen Community in the police force, which he planned to call the Imam's Army.
At the end of December 2016, "They preferred to murder Tahir Elçi instead of arresting him. You are a mob of murderers.", "When you say 'the murderer is the state', you get upset.", "What will you do about the fact that the government and its supporters, who are trying to prove that the assassin is a member of FETO, not Nusra, is a police officer?" He was detained on charges of 'making propaganda for a terrorist organization' and 'publicly insulting the Republic of Türkiye and its institutions' due to his tweets and similar tweets.
While his statement was being taken, he was also asked about issues such as whether he had ties to the DHKP-C militants who killed prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz during the 2015 Istanbul Palace of Justice attack, and his publication of prosecutor Özcan Şişman's letter regarding the MİT trucks scandal. After his interrogation was completed, Şık was arrested on the grounds of 'making propaganda for FETO, DHKP-C and PKK'. Cumhuriyet newspaper announced the incident as "Ahmet Şık, who brought FETO to the market, was arrested on the allegation of 'FETO propaganda'."
AHMET ŞIK'S BOOKS AND AWARDS
Who's Who in Ergenekon? (with Ertuğrul Mavioğlu)
Guide to Understanding Counter-Guerrilla and Ergenekon (with Ertuğrul Mavioğlu)
000 BOOKS - He Who Touches Burns
Ambush: The New Owners of the State
We Walked Parallel on These Paths
Imam's Army
Wall: Turkish Workers' Party Investigation Report on Sedat Peker's Confessions, Disclosures and Allegations (with Bahadır Özgür, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Hakkı Özdal, Timur Soykan)
I accuse
Ayna Heli - Kurdish Issue, Identity Denial, State Mentality and Citizenship Crisis
Awards
1994: Bülent Dikmener News Award
1995: Turkish Journalists Association Photography Award
2001: Metin Göktepe Journalism Awards - Best News Award in Print Media, for the news of 'Murderers Underground'
2002-2005: Contemporary Journalists Association News Award
2002÷ Metin Göktepe Journalism Awards - Special Jury Award, for the news 'Back to Reality'
2007: Metin Göktepe Journalism Awards - Special Jury Award, for the news "There are two types of journalists: Anti-TSK, pro-TAF"
2011: Social Democracy Foundation Human Rights Democracy Peace and Solidarity Award
2011: Turkish Journalists Association Press Freedom Award
2013: Canadian Journalist for Free Expression International Press Freedom Award
2014: UNESCO World Press Freedom Award
2017: Raif Bedevi Brave Journalism Award
WHO IS YONCA VERDİOĞLU?
There is no clear biographical information about Yonca Verdioğlu Şık's date of birth and age. Ahmet Şık and Yonca Verdioğlu Şık have a child.
