Mehmet Ali Birand Archive

Biography

Mehmet Ali Birand was born in Istanbul on 9 December 1941 and educated at Galatasaray High School. He began his career at the newspaper Milliyet in 1964 and became one of Turkey's best-known journalists, with a particular interest in foreign affairs, Turkey's relations with Europe and the role of the military in politics.

In 1985 he launched 32.Gün (32.Day) on TRT. The programme became his platform for long-form reporting and for interviews with the region's leaders, and it followed him from TRT to Show TV, CNN Türk and Kanal D. He also presented the evening news on CNN Türk and Kanal D. He died in Istanbul on 17 January 2013.

Major interviews

Birand's interviews are the backbone of the archive. They include the first interview Yasser Arafat gave to Turkish television (1986), Saddam Hussein during the Gulf crisis (1990), Muammar Gaddafi, and a series of meetings with Abdullah Öcalan beginning in 1988. He recorded long conversations with Turgut Özal and, for his documentary on the 1980 coup, with Kenan Evren.

Books and documentaries

His books include 12 Eylül Saat 04.00, published in English as The Generals' Coup in Turkey, and Emret Komutanım, published in English as Shirts of Steel, as well as 30 Sıcak Gün, Diyet and Türkiye'nin Avrupa Macerası. His documentary series on Turkish political history, including Demirkırat, 12 Mart, 12 Eylül and Son Darbe: 28 Şubat, are held in the archive with their interview material.

See also: 1980 coup · 1971 memorandum · 28 February · screening room · archive search