Sabah newspaper editor-in-chief Mehmet Barlas died at the age of 81 in a private hospital in Şişli, where he had been receiving treatment for a while.
Announcing the news of his death on his social media account, Sabah newspaper writer İsa Tatlıcan said, “We lost Sabah newspaper editor-in-chief Mehmet Barlas. My condolences to his readers, family and all his fans.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared the following from his social media account regarding the death of Barlas:
“Mehmet Barlas, one of the veteran names of the journalism profession, passed away in the hospital where he was treated. May God have mercy on him, I wish my condolences to his family, relatives, readers and media community.
Funeral schedule announced
It was reported that Barlas will be buried in Yeniköy Cemetery after the funeral prayer that will be held at noon at Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Mosque in Beşiktaş Levent on Sunday.
Who is Mehmet Barlas?
Born in Ankara in 1942, Mehmet Barlas received his undergraduate degree from Istanbul University Faculty of Law. He started journalism in his father's Son Havadis while he was still a student and stepped into professional journalism with Cumhuriyet. During İsmail Cem's term as TRT General Manager, he worked as a domestic and foreign news consultant. In 1968, he received the first prize in the field of analysis in the competition organized by the Journalists' Association.
He worked as a columnist and manager in many newspapers such as Günaydın, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Zaman, Akşam, Yeni Şafak. He was a daily news commentator at TGRT. Barlas wrote the books “The Period of Coups and Fights in Turkey” dated 2000, “Memoirs of Turgut Özal” (2000) and “Negotiations on Turkey” dated 2001. In 2003, she prepared and presented a news program with her daughter Ela Barlas.
He served as the main news presenter at ATV for a short time in 2008. He made the "interpretation difference" program with Emre Kongar on the NTV television channel for a while. Later, he appeared in front of the audience with Oğuz Haksever's program called Makam Farkı, which focuses on classical Turkish music, on NTV Radio.
Criticized for "being on the side of every government"
During the maturity period of his journalism adventure, Barlas was criticized for "being on the side of every government". Mehmet Barlas, with whom Kenan Evren, the leader of the September 12, 1980 coup, was close enough to visit him at home, became one of the closest names to the leader of the Motherland Party and Prime Minister Turgut Özal, who came to power after the coup.
Barlas was the leading name of the journalists who defended Tansu Çiller the most, sitting in the Prime Minister's seat with the DYP, which came to power with the partnership of the SHP after the ANAP government, and the subject of a great controversy with her hidden wealth, some of which is in the USA.
Barlas also gave uninterrupted and unconditional support to the AKP and its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who came to power on November 3, 2002, for about 22 years. During these years, Barlas also defended Fethullah Gülen with a series of articles published under the name "Hocaefendi Syndrome" and the book of the same name in the newspaper Yeni Şafak, where he worked for a while.
In his last article published on Saturday, April 15, 2023, Barlas claimed that "CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is the candidate of Kandil and Pennsylvania (Fethullah Gülen)".
The brother-in-law of Can Paker, who died a while ago; Mehmet Barlas, the son of Cemil Sait Barlas, who served as a Gaziantep Deputy in the ministries of Commerce, Economy and State, married journalist Canan Barlas in 1968. He was the father of journalists Cemil Barlas and Ela Barlas.