Background
By 1990 Çetin Emeç had been a journalist for 38 years. He was a board member and columnist at the newspaper Hürriyet, one of the best-known names in the Turkish press, with a wide readership.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were a time when journalists, academics and writers were killed in armed attacks in Turkey and many of the cases were never resolved. The Emeç assassination became one of the most discussed in that series.
What happened
On the morning of 7 March 1990, Emeç left his home in Suadiye, Istanbul, to go to Hürriyet. As he was about to get into his car, two masked gunmen opened fire and he died. His driver, Sinan Ercan, got out and tried to flee; the attackers shot him a few metres away. Emeç was 55 and Ercan 37.
After the attack a caller to the newspaper claimed it had been carried out in the name of the "Turkish Islamic Commandos", but no trace of an organisation by that name was found later. The next day an abandoned car was found in the car park of Atatürk Airport; inside the glove compartment was a newspaper page with Emeç's photograph marked in red pen.
News of the killing was met with deep grief at Hürriyet and across the press; after Emeç's death journalists discussed new measures for their own safety.
Investigation and trial
The Istanbul police chief of the time said the Ingram-type automatic weapon used had not been used in any earlier attack. The Emeç and Turan Dursun killings were handled in an investigation conducted under the name of the Islamic Movement Organisation, in which a group that also included people arrested for other offences was tried.
About six years later İrfan Çağrıcı, described as one of the gunmen, was arrested and sentenced to a heavy prison term. Even so, no convincing clarity emerged about the structure behind the assassination or who ordered it. His family and colleagues have said for years that the file was never fully clarified.
Where it stands today
Emeç's sister has said that his last, unpublished article, which was in his bag, disappeared during the assassination; its fate is unknown. On anniversaries of the killing, professional associations remember Emeç and the attacks on journalists.
In 2026 the press reported that the Justice Minister had said some 1990s assassination files not yet barred by limitation were being taken up again, including the Emeç file. What will come of it is not yet clear. The case is remembered in the context of press freedom and violence against journalists, and is archived so that the victims are not forgotten.
The Emeç killing is among the most frequently mentioned cases in the series of assassinations of journalists and intellectuals in the 1990s. Other attacks in the same period led press organisations and the public to speak more loudly about the safety of journalists. Colleagues describe Emeç as a hardworking journalist devoted to his profession. His driver, Sinan Ercan, often overshadowed, deserves to be remembered as the second victim of the attack.