Entertainment · Books & Arts · 3 hrs ago
Yavuz Donat’s memoir traces Türkiye’s recent history through journalism
Yavuz Donat’s “Off The Record” recounts his 56-year journalism career and the political changes he witnessed in Türkiye.
Published in 2019, the book is an extended interview conducted by Şebnem Bursalı.
Donat began working at the newspaper Ulus in 1963, during a period of major political upheaval.
His career spans coups, political crises and changes of government, including the eras of Adnan Menderes, Süleyman Demirel and Turgut Özal.
The book uses Donat’s memories of politicians, private conversations and events to offer a personal account of the country’s recent history.
Those firsthand recollections preserve details missing from official records, which were weakened in part when party archives were destroyed.
The book presents journalism and memory as a way to document parts of Türkiye’s political past that might otherwise be lost.
Yavuz Donat’s memoir “Off The Record” uses his journalism career to recount Türkiye’s recent political history.
The book is an extended interview shaped by questions from Şebnem Bursalı and focuses on Donat’s 56-year career.
Published by Turkuvaz Kitap in 2019, it covers political figures and events from Adnan Menderes to Süleyman Demirel and Turgut Özal, as well as military coups and political crises.
Donat began his journalism career at the Ulus newspaper in 1963.
The article presents the book as oral history that preserves personal memories and details not easily found in official records.
- Who
- Veteran Turkish journalist Yavuz Donat, interviewed by Şebnem Bursalı.
- What
- His book “Off The Record” recounts his journalism career and Türkiye’s recent history.
- When
- Published in 2019. Donat’s career began in 1963.
- Where
- Türkiye.
- Why
- The book preserves Donat’s memories of political events and encounters, including details not easily found in official records.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Donat began his journalism career at the Ulus newspaper.
Turkuvaz Kitap published “Off The Record,” an extended interview about Donat’s 56-year journalism career.
- Book title
- Off The Record
- Author
- Yavuz Donat
- Interviewer
- Şebnem Bursalı
- Publisher
- Turkuvaz Kitap
- Publication year
- 2019
- Career start
- 1963, at the Ulus newspaper
1 source
What people are saying
The written memory of Turkish politics is weak. Military coups. Political party closures. Party archives were sent to the SEKA Paper Mill. They were pulped and turned into paper again. What I have are the things that were not destroyed. What remains.