Burak Eldem - Early Life and Journalism

Early Life and Journalism

Eldem spent his early childhood in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. His father, Atilla Eldem, was a well-known actor of the Ankara State Theatre and his mother was a high school literature teacher. He is also a great-grandson of İbrahim Ethem Pasha, Grand Vizier (Sadrazam) of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. Eldem moved to Istanbul in 1975 when his father died and continued his high school education in this city. Graduated from Bosphorus University's Tourism Management department and then University of Marmara's Business Administration Faculty, but never intended to be a business executive; his main interests were writing and history.

His journalism career began in 1984, writing feature articles for Turkish arts and culture magazines; among them were "Gösteri", "Sanat Olayı" and "Milliyet Sanat", the most popular publications of the early eighties. His writings mostly concentrated on post-World War II counter-culture movements in Western World, particularly the avant-garde literature of the fifties and particularly in rock music. His colorful analysis on the Beat Generation literature and the Flower Power movement of the sixties, were welcomed by young urban intellectuals. In 1985, his first book was published by Imge Publications, titled "Bob Marley and Reggae"; a biography of Jamaican reggae star and a summary of the Rastafarian movement, slightly emphasising its politics, its elements of anti-imperialism. The same year he published "The History of Rock Music"; a research on the roots of jazz, blues and rock music, as a sociological and political phenomenon of the twentieth century capitalist world.

Eldem was among the founders of the monthly music and counter-culture magazine "Studyo Imge" (now considered as a cult) and became its first editor in early 1985. In 1986, his third book came: "From May Flower to the Song of Peace"; a work on American protest folk music of sixties, centered around the singer Joan Baez. The same year he began to write for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet (The Republic) and became its one of the most popular freelance writers. In early 1988, he was hired for Playboy magazine's Turkish edition as the editorial director and ran that position until 1990. Between 1991-96, he prepared and presented documentary music programs for Turkish television (TRT).

In 1997, he shifted his career towards "new media" working as a contributing editor and a columnist at ZDNet's Turkish edition; then in 2000, he became the portal manager of the leading internet content provider and ISP "Ixir". He also ran a personal web site named "Atlantis", where he shared his research on humanities and particularly on ancient history.