ANKARA (Turkish Daily News) - Mustafa Ekmekçi, one of Turkey's most renowned and respected journalists passed away on Wednesday at the age of 70 from double pneumonia and related breathing problems. Ekmekçi had been under intensive care at the Medical Faculty of Ankara University where he was admitted on May 2. Ekmekçi was born in 1927 in the village of Hocalar attached to Hadim county in the province of Konya. He finished his primary and secondary education in Konya and subsequently attended Law Faculty in Istanbul and Ankara for some time. He subsequently started teaching in Konya where he later joined the Ilgın and Öğüt newspapers.
Settling in Ankara in 1957 Ekmekçi started writing for the daily Ulus. In 1959 he move to the daily Vatan and was later employed by Milliyet.
He worked for Öncü in 1960 and later became an editor for Yankı magazine. In 1972 he became Ankara representative for Yeni Ortam. Ekmekçi jointed the daily Cumhuriyet team in 1975 where he had worked until his death expect for a one year interruption in 1991.
Ekmekçi was also elected as the president of the Association of Contemporary Journalists in 1990 and held this job until 1996 when he left the post to a younger journalist.
Ekmekçi who wrote eight books had received a number of prizes for his writings, which covered a wide range of topics on Turkish political and social life and which over the years brought him a large following of readers.