Background
Akyol was born to liberal journalist Taha Akyol and received his early education in Ankara.
Akyol was born to liberal journalist Taha Akyol and received his early education in Ankara.
He later graduated from the Istanbul Nişantaşı Anadolu Lisesi and the International Relations Department of Boğaziçi University.
Akyol has said he would describe himself as a "Classical Liberal". He became a contributing opinion writer for the International New York Times in 2013. He earned his masters in the History Department of the same university with a thesis on Turkey"s Kurdish question, which he later extended to a popular book titled Kürt Sorununu Yeniden Düşünmek: Yanlış Giden Neydi, Bundan Sonra Nereye? (Rethinking the Kurdish Issue: What Went Wrong, What Next?)
Akyol writes regular columns for both the online news site First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Monitor and the Turkish daily Hürriyet Daily News.
He has criticized both Islamic extremism and Turkish secularism, which he likens to Jacobinism and fundamentalism.
He also spoke at TED, giving a lecture on Faith versus Tradition in Islam. Schwartz critiques the author"s lack of full disclosure regarding his own family"s Turkish history and involvement in politics.
Akyol was formerly an outspoken promoter of intelligent design and was identified as a former spokesman for Science Research Foundation (Bilim Araştırma Vakfı), an Islamic creationist group, started by Adnan Oktar. Akyol later noted that he had ended all his "cooperation with.. due to some serious disagreements on issues other than intelligent design." He was also affiliated with the Discovery Institute.
He has testified in the Kansas evolution hearings in favor of introducing and arranged a government-sponsored conference in Istanbul.
He also faults the author for not carefully laying out the facts surrounding Turkish democracy and rushing to conclusions about the country’s AKP political party that are not fully supported by the evidence.