Çetin Özek (1934 Çorum, Turkey – 16 July 2008 Istanbul) was a prominent Turkish university professor of criminal law, jurist, author and journalist.
He was an instructor in criminal law at the same university for five years before receiving his doctorate in 1961, with a thesis titled about secularism in Turkey, a subject on which he was going to be known to feel strongly during his entire life.
In 1983, in conflict with Turkey's newly founded "Council of Higher Education" (YÖK), Özek demissioned from his position at the university, and pursued a career focused on journalism and on legal counselling.
[1] He was also deeply involved in politics, making a name as a staunch supporter of Republican values and a strong critic of rising Islamist or Islamic-tainted movements.
In addition to a dozen books he wrote on matters such as criminal law, freedom of the press and secularism, a festschrift to his honor was published by prominent jurists from Galatasaray University in 2004.