Who were the targets of Uğur Mumcu?

In these days when journalism, investigative work, and being an independent intellectual have become quite difficult, we commemorate Uğur Mumcu once again, on another January 24th. We long for his courage, his principled, consistent, and uncompromising personality, his investigative spirit, and his professional competence. And as we do every January 24th, we talk about Mumcu’s qualities and characteristics. 

We know; Uğur Mumcu is a journalist, the pinnacle of investigative journalism. He is the greatest journalist our country has ever seen. He is a prolific writer. He is a visionary thinker. 

We know; Uğur Mumcu is an intellectual. He is a brave, bold, and valiant intellectual. He is a combative intellectual. He is an intellectual with a "fikri müstakim," meaning he possessed consistency in his direction. 

We know; Uğur Mumcu is a Kuvayı Milliyeci (National Forces member). He is a Republican. He is a Kemalist and a leftist. He is an anti-imperialist. He is a revolutionary who stands on the side of labor, equality, the oppressed, enlightenment, and independence. 

Uğur Mumcu wrote on a wide range of topics and fought on many fronts. He researched and wrote on many subjects, from the history of the Republic to developments in the Middle East, from arms smuggling to imperialism, from political assassinations to the mafia, from the separatist PKK terrorism to Kurdish nationalism, from religious profiteers, faith-based swindlers, and "faith bankers" to coups, and from foreign policy to Turkish political life. He authored thousands of columns and article series. He participated in hundreds of conferences and panels. He went down in history with his dozens of books. He conducted very important research not only in the archives of our country but also in archives abroad. 

Mumcu had a very fluent style. His language was witty. He frequently included humor in his writings. Mumcu had high self-confidence. He did not hesitate to interview even those he was politically opposed to. He defended democracy, the rule of law, human rights, secularism, freedom of thought, and freedom of the press and expression at the cost of his life. 

Mumcu never took a step back. He fought with his pen against supporters of terrorism, collaborators of imperialism, "fake" republicans, religious profiteers, and advocates of identity politics. 

The following excerpts are from Uğur Mumcu’s writings on the Middle East:

“The new Gulf Doctrine of the USA is to intervene in the region by also using the United Nations and NATO, and then to become the sole dominant superpower of the region. This is called imperialism. And imperialism has many games. It has both many games and plenty of collaborators.” (Cumhuriyet, August 25, 1990). 

“On one side the Turkish-Islamic synthesis, on the other the Kurdish-Islamic synthesis... This is the fashion of our day. Wasn’t the uprising led by Sheikh Said in 1925 staged with religious-appearing political goals? ... Kurdish nationalists are approaching Islamists, and Islamists are approaching Kurdish nationalists again.” (Cumhuriyet, March 15, 1991, Kurdish-Islamic Synthesis…)

“The diplomacy after the Gulf War is being played like a game of billiards. The USA hits Iraq with the billiard cue; Iraq hits the Kurdish ball. The Kurdish ball hits the Cyprus ball. ... Turkey is being pushed into great isolation within a Kurdish-Armenian-Greek-European-American pincer.” (Cumhuriyet, March 16, 1991, Billiards...)

“The USA gave the green light to the Kurds for their uprisings. ... When Saddam launched a military operation against the Kurds, the Kurdish insurgents were left alone. ... National liberation wars cannot be carried out by trusting imperialist states, the intelligence agencies of these states, and the policies of these states.” (Cumhuriyet, April 5, 1991, Bush’s Game...)

“The USA, which first used the Shah against Dr. Mossadegh, then the Kurds against the Baghdad regime, and later Saddam against Khomeini, will try to topple the Islamic Republic in Iran with all its might if it topples Saddam. Whichever regime in the Middle East opposes US hegemony, that regime will be destroyed.” (Cumhuriyet, January 20, 1993). 

Uğur Mumcu wrote the following regarding freedom of the press:

“The greatest danger for the press is for newspapers to engage in purposes outside the field of journalism, thus becoming organs of these purposes. Freedom of the press means freely obtaining and disseminating news and freely expressing all kinds of thoughts. It does not mean corporatization and becoming a holding company!” (Cumhuriyet, January 20, 1982).

“Freedom of the press is currently facing two dangers. The first danger is the state’s restrictive and prohibitive attitude toward freedom of the press. The second danger is the formation of holding companies that will take over press organs and create a monopoly in the press. In this case, freedom of the press will be kept under the pressure of capital, and the guidance of certain business circles will completely destroy freedom of the press.” (Cumhuriyet, June 30, 1983).

“If holding companies and monopolies in the press are not prevented, there is no possibility of protecting and developing the press and freedom of the press. Believe me, it is very difficult to be optimistic about the future in a period when not only holding companies in the press but also holding companies in politics have begun. As the progressive press that stands on the side of democracy, labor, the people, freedom, and independence, we will continue to hold our heads high tomorrow, just as we did yesterday and today, by taking strength and support from you, despite all these difficult conditions that push one to pessimism. Because freedom of the press is the freedom of the people, not of the Sirkeci capital or upstart holding companies.” (Cumhuriyet, October 15, 1983).

Uğur Mumcu wrote the following against coups, terrorist acts, and identity politics:

“What were a Soviet-made Kalashnikov doing in the hands of a right-wing militant and an American-made Smith & Wesson in the hands of a left-wing militant? We know that generalizations such as ‘leftists use Soviet weapons, right-wingers use American weapons’ do not fit the events at all. Just as Soviet and Chinese weapons appeared in the hands of leftists and American weapons in the hands of right-wingers, the opposite examples were also frequently encountered; it was not uncommon for American weapons to be seized from a leftist and Soviet weapons from a right-winger. As for the bullets, that is also interesting: The bullets were also coming from a German company called ‘Gecco’. What was the meaning of all this?” (Cumhuriyet, “Arms Market”, February 24, 1981) 

“An arms smuggler has no political goal; their goal is to make money in the terror market. However, in the organization of terror, the smuggler’s organizational and operational cooperation with the terrorist is in question. This cooperation shows the material formation and multinational aspect of terrorist events.” (Cumhuriyet, “Organized Crime”, August 4, 1981)

“The soldiers who seized power on September 12, instead of limiting investigations to terrorist acts and catching those who directed these acts, blew winds of fascism in the country with artificial political trials. They did not stop there; they played major roles in the formation of today’s unjust social order by implementing an economic model that increased profit, interest, and rent income while decreasing labor income by force of arms. They also supported the development of Islamist movements, whether knowingly or unknowingly.” (Cumhuriyet, “10 Years Later”, September 14, 1990).

“No one who cannot overcome sectarianism, regionalism, Kurdishness, and Alevism can be a leftist, a democrat, or a social democrat. In pluralistic democracies, democratic qualities, not ethnic characteristics, carry weight.” (Cumhuriyet, September 14, 1991).

“The PKK is a terrorist organization, and this terrorist organization easily finds the opportunity to organize and operate in the capitals and major cities of NATO countries. These are open supports in front of the whole world’s eyes.” (Milliyet, “Lebanonization”, March 24, 1992)

“PKK actions began on August 15, 1984. It is imperialism and imperialism’s interests in the Middle East that make the Kurd an enemy of the Turk, the Turk an enemy of the Kurd, the Armenian an enemy of the Turk, the Turk an enemy of the Armenian, the Alevi an enemy of the Sunni, and the Sunni an enemy of the Alevi. It was like that yesterday, and it is like that today.” (Cumhuriyet, “Kurdish-Armenian”, July 29, 1992)

That is why Uğur Mumcu is an unsurpassable journalist, an uncorroded intellectual, and an unforgettable Republican.