A liberal intellectual in the transition to multi-party system in Turkey: Ahmet Emin Yalman

While liberalism makes individuals experience their renaissance, it can sometimes leave them in a dilemma or even contradiction due to its nature; this ambiguous nature of liberalism has also often left Turkish liberals hesitant. The tragedy of Turkish liberals is that they remain in between state-society relations and take ambivalent positions between the government and the opposition from time to time. The importance of Ahmet Emin Yalman (1888-1972), who constitutes the central axis of this study, is that as a journalist who witnessed the critical watersheds of Turkey from the Second Constitutional Era to the Republican period, he was a figure among Turkish liberals who reveals this fragile structure. Therefore, in the transition to the multi-party system, which is the most fundamental test of democratic consolidation in Turkey, understanding Yalman's thoughts is essential in penetrating liberalism in Turkey and getting an idea about that period. Nevertheless, Yalman's biggest tragedy is foremost his love and hate relationship with the Democrat Party government and Adnan Menderes, and then his being stuck between his passionate journalist identity and his liberal intellectual identity. On the other hand, the fact that he constantly experiences the conflict between the emotional and the intellectual bond with his profession that he had established, and he made concessions from his liberal stance according to time and context, has made him a controversial name. This study will discuss Ahmet Emin Yalman's opinions and intentions in Turkey's transition to democracy while trying to depict a portrait of his renaissance.