Ahmet Ümit was born in Gaziantep, Turkey in 1960 as the youngest of seven

children. At 14, he was already influenced from the books that his elderly brothers
would send home, which included the works of Karl Marx; and at a young age he
started to engage with politics. In 1979 he moved to Istanbul to study at Marmara
University, where he graduated from in 1983. Between 1974 and 1989, he was an
active member of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). After the military coup in
1980, for about ten years, he illegally fought for democracy in Turkey and took active
part in several underground organizations.
In 1985 he was sent to the Moscow Academy of Social Sciences by TKP to
spend a year with other communists. Ümit states that his stay in Moscow changed his
perceptions and ideas of the ideologies he had been fighting for and when he came
back to Turkey a year later, he started a new career as a young writer.1
His first book, Sokağın Zulası, a collection of poems was published in 1989.
Since then, Ümit has written in a variety of genres including short stories, novellas
and poems, but it is his crime novels that have made him one of the most popular
authors of contemporary Turkish literature. Since the publication of Sis ve Gece (Fog
and Night) (1996), which is the first Turkish crime novel to be translated into a
foreign language, Ümit has written seven crime novels and won several national and
international prizes; and his works have been translated into various languages,
including English, German, French and Greek. Moreover, some of Ümit's novels have
been adapted into popular Turkish TV series. Aside from fiction, Ahmet Ümit’s non-
fiction works have been published in mainstream newspapers, mostly about political
and cultural issues.
Although it is difficult to make generalizations about Ümit’s novels, since he
experiments different sub-genres ranging from the traditional hard-boiled to
postmodern and even fantastic subversion of the crime novel, it is possible to suggest
that his works present the following traits: The inclusion of actual or realistic political
facts, the portrayal of characters who feel, in one way or another, responsible for the
social, political or historical contradictions of society, the depiction of a conflict in
terms of pressure of the community on the individual and the exploration of questions
of identity.
The following list presents brief information about Ahmet Ümit’s works:
Sokağın Zulası was published by Deniz Yayıncılık in 1989. It is a collection of
Ümit’s earlier poems. The new edition by Everest, which has been published recently,
also includes the poems Ümit wrote between 1989 and 2011.

1
"Benim kafamın net olarak açıldığı yer Moskova'dır. Oraya gittiğimde büyük bir
hayal kırıklığı yaşadım. Kafamdaki sosyalist toplumla oradaki toplum aynı değildi. 25
yaşındaydım ve 11 yılım bu işlerin içinde geçmişti. 11 yıl sonra 'Benden bu kadar
arkadaş. Bu iş yanlışmış. Gideyim babamın kilimci dükkanında çalışayım' diyecek
halim yoktu. Ama orada gördüğüm hakikaten kötüydü. Daha önce görmüş olsaydım
yine bırakır, çekilirdim. Ben 'o rejim için dövüşmem' dedim. Benim arkadaşlarım o
rejim için ölmezlerdi yani. Yanlış bir rejimdi. Yazar olmaya orada karar verdim"
(http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/aksiyon/haber-14362-34-turkiyede-polisin-
cozemeyecegi-cinayet-yok.html retrieved in March 2011.)
Çıplak Ayaklıydı Gece (1992) is a collection of short crime stories, which features
Ümit’s recurring protagonists Komiser Nevzat and his deputy Ali. The two have been
the main characters of Ümit’s other works, including his latest novel İstanbul
Hatırası. Ümit got the ‘Ferit Oğuz Bayır Düşün ve Sanat Ödülü’ for Çıplak Ayaklıydı
Gece and the short stories were later adopted into a TV serial.
Bir Ses Böler Geceyi (1994) is a novella firstly published by Cem Yayınevi. Narrated
by an omniscient narrator, the story revolves around the events that take place in a
Cem House in a little village near Tokat. Witnessing these events, the main
protagonist Süha is reminded of his past, which includes the post 1980 period in
Turkey.
Masal Masal İçinde (1995) is a collection of fairy tales –with the inclusion of certain
generic features of crime fiction.
Sis ve Gece (1996) is Ümit’s first crime novel. The simple plot revolves around a
secret agent Sedat’s search for his lost lover Mine. Sedat is not able to silence his
guilty conscience because he was unsuccessful in solving the murder of his partner.
His faith in his organization (MIT) is shaken as he witnesses the changes inside the
organization as well as the relationship between the organization and the state. Thus,
on the one hand, it is a novel about Sedat’s search for Mine and on the other, Turkey
in the 1990s.
"Sis ve Gece"de okur, bu arayış boyunca Sedat’la birlikte insan ilişkilerine
doğru ilginç bir yolculuğa çıkar. İstanbul’un Tarlabaşı, Kurtuluş gibi
unutulmuş semtlerinin ara sokaklarında süren bu arayış, kimisi geçmişin
anılarına bağlı, kimisi değerlerini yitirmiş, para ve çıkar ekseninde gelişen
trajik ve komik ilişkilerin insanlarını çıkartır karşımıza.
Seçtiği mekânlar ve insan ilişkileriyle İstanbul’un tarihten beri süregelen
karmaşık etnik yapısına da işaret eder "Sis ve Gece". Türkiye’de yaşayan
Rumların son temsilcilerinden olan Madam Eleni ve kızı Maria’nın öyküsü
çarpıcı olduğu kadar düşündürücüdür de. Bu toprakların insanı olan Madam
Eleni ve kızı Maria, son dönemde yaşanan kültürel kaos ve yozlaşma
nedeniyle kendi komşuları tarafından kurban olarak seçilirler. Türkiye
kültürünün en özgün renklerinden olan bu insanların son yıllardaki yaşamı
trajik bir biçimde aktarılır (http://www.dogankitap.com.tr/kitap/Sis+ve+Gece-
348 retrived in March 2011).

Kar Kokusu (1998) is Ümit’s second crime novel which takes place in Moscow.
Following the 1980 military coup, a group of Turkish communists are sent to the
International Institute of Leninism, where one of them gets murdered. As the group
tries to search the murderer, a possible spy in the group, the novel portrays numerous
characters and as it discusses these characters’ reasons to become members of TKP, it
presents a polyphonic discussion of political ideologies and a reconstruction of the
post-1980 period in Turkey.

Agathanın Anahtarı (1999) is another collection of crime stories that take place in
various districts in Istanbul. The stories could be read as social criticism as well as
meta-fiction on how to write the best crime story with several references to Agatha
Christie’s works.
 “Bazı cinayetlerin aydınlanması polisin çabasına değil, siyasi iktidarın tavrına
bağlıdır. Elinizde ne kadar ipucu, ne kadar somut kanıt olursa olsun hiçbir
yararı olamaz. Çünkü yukarıdan birileri bu işin aydınlanması istemiyordur.”
(s.86)

Patasana (2000) is a novel of two parallel stories, one taking place in the year 1999,
the other in the 8th century AC. The present story takes place in South Anatolia on the
upper Euphrates. In 28 chapters, the narration concentrates on a dramatic phase of few
days of an international team of six archeologists from Turkey, Germany and the US,
who have recently found 28 Hittite writing boards. The parallel story is the writings of
these 28 Hittite boards, which constitute another 28 chapters of the novel. What is
written on these boards is the personal confessions of an official Hittite clerk named
Patasana from the 8th century AC, during the era of Hittite Empire. The boards,
according to the archeologists in the novel, are “the first document of the unofficial
historiography of mankind.” As the archeologists try to interpret and decipher these
Hittite boards in order to present their findings at an international press conference,
which will take place in a few days, a series of mysterious murders start to take place.
In the first chapter, we are informed about the murder of the imam, Hacı Settar, then
the leader of a regional tribe, Resat Türkoğlu is murdered, later a local named Nahsen
and the final victim is Kemal, one of the archeologists of the international team.
Except the last murder of the archeologist, all are copycats of murders of three
Armenians that took place in the same region 78 years ago, in 1921.
On the one hand, Eşref Komiser, the protagonist, goes into a battle with those
suspects in the region such as fundamental Islamists and Kurdish terrorists who later
prove to be innocent. On the other hand, Esra, the head of the archeologists and
another protagonist, goes around just like an amateur detective and investigates the
locals in the region in order to reach some clues on the identity of the murderer.The
present story focuses on the investigations of these murders by two main protagonists,
Eşref and Esra. As the search of the murderer yield the two characters to question the
individual stories of the locals in the village as well as the recent history of the
Turkish Republic, the novel focuses on critical issues and problems of today's Turkey
such as the violent struggle of military against the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) as
well as the reactionary, fanatic Islamists, and the taboo topic of the genocide of the
Armenians.
Şeytan Ayrıntıda Gizlidir (2002) is Ümit’s third collection of short stories, featuring
Komiser Nevzat and Ali. The stories in this collection, too, were later adopted into a
TV serial with Cetin Tekindor and Nejat Isler.

Kukla (2002) The protagonist Adnan Sözmen was used to be a very well known
successful journalist, who has become an alcoholic. The day he is fired from his job at
a mainstream newspaper, he accidentally meets his stepbrother Doğan, whom he had
not seen in years. Doğan asks Adnan to help him get out of a complicated situation,
which is linked to the conspiracies and the complicated web of relationships of the
Deep State. The novel could be read as a historical metafiction that reconstructs the
events related to Susurluk Kazası.

Beyoğlu Rapsodisi (2003) is a crime novel told by a homodiegetic narrator, Selim.

Together with his best friends Kenan and Nihat, Selim tries to solve a murder case in
Beyoğlu. The ending is identical to Agatha Christie’s prominent work The Murder of
Ackroyd (1926).

Aşk Köpekliktir (2004) is a collection of short stories, mostly dealing with love.

Başkomser Nevzat, Çiçekçinin Ölümü (2005) a comic book featuring the drawings of
İsmail Gülgeç. Gülgeç depicts various stories of Başkomser Nevzat, written
exclusively for this comic book by Ümit.

Kavim (2006) is Ümit’s sixth crime novel, in which Komiser Nevzat and Ali try to
solve the mystery behind the murders:

Kabzasında bir haç olan bıçakla öldürülmüş bir adam... Üstelik yanı başında bir
Kutsal Kitap açık bırakılmış, satırlardan birinin altı adamın kanıyla çizilmiş ve
kitabın kenarına bir azizin adı düşülmüş...
"Kavim"de olaylar böyle başlıyor işte. Komiser Nevzat, yardımcısı Ali ve
Zeynep de olayı çözmek için hemen harekete geçiyorlar.
Ahmet Ümit’in beklenen yeni romanında gizemli olaylar çerçevesinde işlenen
cinayetleri aydınlatmaya çalışıyor kahramanlarımız. Hıristiyanlık, Süryanîlik,
Arap Alevîliği gibi dinî konuların da rol oynadığı, İstanbul’dan Mardin’e
uzanan, devletin derinliklerinde kurulmuş yanlış düzene çarpıp geri tepen
ilginç bir soruşturma bu. İşlenen cinayetler gizemli ve çarpıcı, ama
kahramanlarımızın soruşturma sırasında karşılarına çıkan gerçekler daha da
çarpıcı. Çok heyecanlı, gerilimli bir polisiyeyle karşı karşıyayız, orası kesin.
Ama bu polisiye bize Türkiye’nin yakın geçmişi ve bugünüyle ilgili de çok ş
ey söylüyor (http://www.dogankitap.com.tr/kitap/Kavim-769 retrieved in
March 2011).

Ninatta'nın Bileziği (2006) is very similar to Patasana since it also takes place in
Hittites, but it is more of a historical or an epic novel than a crime novel.

İnsan Ruhunun Haritası (2007) is a collection of essays on a variety of subjects

including art, violence, Sufism and life. Ümit also presents his analyses of crime
novels and explores the relationship between violence, literature and the humal
soul.

Olmayan Ülke (2008) is another collection of fairy tales.

Bab-ı Esrar (2009) is Ümit’s seventh crime novel in which specific spiritual themes
repeatedly arise particularly in the depiction of the relationship between master
and apprentice. The book blends two parallel narratives - one contemporary and
the other set in the thirteenth century. Told by the homodiegetic narrator Karen
Kimya Greenwood, the contemporary story revolves around the mystery behind a
hotel fire in Konya, in which two people are burned to death. Karen Kimya
travels to Konya as she is employed with the hotel’s insurer. And while on her
journey there, she is forced to face her past and question certain decisions in life.
As Konya is the city where her father, a Sufi master named Poyraz Efendi, grew
up, it acquires a new significance in Karen Kimya’s life and leads her to address a
 question looming in her future: whether or not to abort the baby she is carrying as
her boyfriend wishes, or to deliver it herself.
The thirteenth century narrative is a reconstruction of the relationship between
Rumi and Shams. Told mostly through Karen Kimya’s character, who has become
Shams himself and therefore acquires Shams’s philosophical teachings, her new
perspective in this storyline ultimately offers her modern self insight into an a
philosophy that is based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of
love in all beings. The novel presents Rumi and Shams’ complex relationship from its
very beginning and includes Rumi’s famous “awakening” that later arises from his
meeting the wandering dervish Shams, as well as Shams’ mysterious murder.

İstanbul Hatırası (2010) is Ümit’s latest crime novel published by Everest. There are
seven murders, taking place in seven days in Istanbul. In the plot, Ümit presents a
great puzzle of Istanbul, where each victim, together with an ancient coin on his
hand, has been left in a different historical district. As Komiser Nevzat, Ali and
Zeynep try to find the murderer, they are forced to remember or even learn the
long history of Istanbul, which starts with the Byzantion up to today. Aside from
the teaching of this history of the city, its contemporary condition is underlined
several times together with ecological and historical concerns. The chain of
murders contain of an art historian, a politician, an architect, whereas the suspects
include the director of Topkapi museum, a surgeon, an ex-socialist, radical
Islamists, each representing a different political ideology.