Murat Bardakçı

Murat Bardakçı — Biography

Murat Gökhan Bardakçı (born 25 December 1955 in Istanbul) is a Turkish journalist, writer and television presenter known for his research into late Ottoman history and the history of Turkish music. The son of writer-journalist İlhan Bardakçı, he studied at Ankara Atatürk High School and the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University. He is recognized for his expertise in old musical notation systems such as Ebced and Hamparsum notation and Byzantine neumes, for his extensive archive of manuscripts and printed works, and for playing the bowed tambur.

Between 2009 and 2015 he hosted the history program "Tarihin Arka Odası" on Habertürk TV, working first with Erhan Afyoncu and Pelin Batu and later with Nurhan Atasoy. Following the 2018 elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed him to the Presidential Board of Culture and Arts Policies alongside figures such as Orhan Gencebay, Hülya Koçyiğit, Alev Alatlı and Mehmet Çelik.

Bardakçı continues to write a regular column for Habertürk. In 2026 he published a book on the life of musician Şerif Muhiddin Targan and drew wide attention with a farewell tribute to his longtime friend, historian İlber Ortaylı, following the latter's death.