Turgut Özakman

Turgut Özakman — Biography

Süleyman Turgut Özakman (1 September 1930, Ankara – 28 September 2013, Ankara) was a Turkish writer, dramaturge and screenwriter who graduated from Ankara University's Faculty of Law, practiced briefly as a lawyer, and then studied theatre at the University of Cologne. He joined the State Theatre as a dramaturge, went on to serve as a department head and deputy director general at TRT, as director general of the State Theatres from 1983 to 1987, and as a member and vice-chairman of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) from 1988 to 1994, while teaching dramatic writing for many years at Ankara University's theatre department.

His best-known work is Şu Çılgın Türkler (2005), a retelling of the Turkish War of Independence that had reached 311 printings by 2013 and formed the first volume of a trilogy completed by Diriliş - Çanakkale 1915 (2008), on the Gallipoli campaign, and Cumhuriyet - Türk Mucizesi (2009), on the republic's founding. He also wrote stage plays such as Deli Bayramı, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi and Ah Şu Gençler, and screenplays for productions including Duvarların Ötesi (1964), Gurbet Kuşları (1964), the Keloğlan films, the series Kurtuluş, Cumhuriyet (1998) and Dersimiz: Atatürk (2010).

Özakman received honorary doctorates from Anadolu, Ege and Ankara universities, the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award, and the Muhsin Ertuğrul Special Award at the Afife Theatre Awards; a theatre opened in Eskişehir in 2002 was named after him, and Middle East Technical University gave him an outstanding-service award in 2006. He died in Ankara in 2013, survived by three children and four grandchildren.