Turgut Özakman

Turgut Özakman — Biography

Süleyman Turgut Özakman (1 September 1930, Ankara – 28 September 2013, Ankara) was a Turkish writer, dramaturge, playwright, screenwriter and lawyer. He graduated from the Ankara University Faculty of Law and also studied at the University of Cologne. He worked as a dramaturge and administrator at the State Theatres and also served at TRT.

His best-known work is the 2005 novel "Şu Çılgın Türkler", about the Turkish War of Independence. He 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 television series "Kurtuluş", "Cumhuriyet" (1998), "Dersimiz: Atatürk" (2010) and "Çanakkale 1915" (2012).

He received an honorary doctorate from Anadolu University and the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award. In 2002 a theatre opened in Eskişehir was named after him, and in 2006 Middle East Technical University presented him with an outstanding service award.