Atilla Yayla

Atilla Yayla([atiɫɫa jajɫa], born (1957-03-03)March 3, 1957), is a Turkish political thinker and a proponent of liberal democracy. He is one of the founders of Association for Liberal Thinking in Turkey. He was Professor of Politics, Political Economy and Political Philosophy at Gazi University in Turkey and the department head of the International Relations department at Faculty of Commercial Sciences of Istanbul Commerce University in Turkey until he was fired in 2015. In 2016 he was fired from his teaching post at Haliç University, after the University administration was charged with corruption and turned over to Istanbul University by The Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

He is currently a faculty member at the Political Science and Public Administration Department of Istanbul Medipol University.

He also wrote articles for newspapers Zaman and Yeni Şafak, and currently writes for Yeni Yüzyıl.

He was born in 1957 in Kaman, Kırşehir.

As an undergraduate, he studied economics at Ankara University, going on to earn a master's degree in public administration and a Ph.D in political science (1986).

In the 1970s he was involved in Yeniden Milli Mücadele Hareketi (The War of Independence Anew Movement), an anti-communist, ani-zionist and anti-imperialist movement founded by Islamist students.

During the early 1980s he supported the military junta in Turkey as "... one of the significant sources of hope for the survival of our democracy."

During the late 1980s he became a liberal and was one of the founders of Association for Liberal Thinking, serving as its chairperson between 1997 and 2008 in which he is still an active member.

He was a visiting professor at the University of Buckingham. He was the winner of the Anthony Fisher Prize in 2000 for his book "Islam, Civil Society and Market Economy". Yayla was awarded the Person of the Year Award by the Stockholm Network in 2007.

Yayla is the author of many books and articles in English and Turkish on terrorism, liberalism, constructivist rationalism, social justice, and Friedrich Hayek.

In 2006, Yayla was charged with insulting the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by calling him "that man" in a speech where he argued that the early years of the republic were less democratic than the period after Turkey became a multi-party system, and the cult of personality that has grown up around Atatürk since.

Yayla's views on Atatürk and the early years of the Turkish Republic led some newspapers, notably Yeni Asır, to proclaim him a traitor. In a court case, he was convicted and received a suspended 15-month jail sentence. Yayla was also dismissed temporarily from his academic post.

Several of Yayla's books are published by Liberte Yayınları (Liberte Publications), a company associated with the Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu.

• On Terrorism (1990)
• Liberalism (1992,1994,1997,2000,2003)
• Liberal Approaches (1993, 2000)
• The Road to Freedom (1993, 2000)
• Social and Political Theory (ed.) (1994, 2000)
• Rules and Order (Turkish translation of book by F.A. Hayek, 1994)
• On the Welfare Party (with Melih Yürüsen) (1996, in Turkish and German)
• On Turkish Political Parties (with Melih Yürüsen) (1996, in Turkish and German)
• Introduction to Political Theory (1998)
• Islam, Civil Society and the Market Economy (ed.) (1999, in English)
• Road to Freedom: the Social and Economic Philosophy of Hayek (2000, in Turkish)
• Guide to Protect Democracy (2001, in Turkish)
• Statist Mentality and Market Economy (2001, in Turkish)
• Dictionary of Political Thought (2007, 5th ed., in Turkish)
• Market Civilization (2004, in Turkish)

• “Terrorism: A Conceptual Framework” (1980)
• "Terrorism in Turkey" (PDF). SBF dergisi. Ankara University. 44 (3): 249–262. 1989. ISSN 0378-2921. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-30.
• “On Theories of Justice” (1991)
• “Constructivist Rationalism, Justice, and Socialism” (1993)
• “The Theoretical and Actual Meaning of Human Rights” (1994)
• “Minorities and Religious Freedom in Democracies: The Case of the Amish Community” (1997, in English and Turkish)
• “Cultural Clashes Between Minorities and Larger Society in Democracies” (in English, 1997)
• “Islam, Secularism and Democracy in Turkey” (1998)
• “Information Age: Some Misunderstandings” (1998)
• “A Guide to ‘Protect' Democracy” (2000)
• "Freedom of expression in Turkey". International Herald Tribune. 2006-12-07. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
• "Freedom of Expression Under Attack in Turkey". International Society for Individual Liberty.
• "Seçimlerden Çıkan Sonuçlar" (The Results of the Elections), Yeni Forum 5, No. 112 (1 May 1984): 10.
• "Demokratik Sistemde Basın Sorumluluğu" (The Responsibility of the Press in a Democratic System), Yeni Forum 5, No. 118 (1 August 1984): 10-11.
• "Dünya'da ve Türkiye'de Terör" (Terrorism in the World and in Turkey), Yeni Forum 6, No. 128 (1 January 1985): 36-37.