Nazlı Ilıcak was born 1944 to Muammer Çavuşoğlu [tr], a politician and former government minister, and his wife İhsan in Ankara, Turkey.
[1] She attended the TED Ankara College, completed her secondary education however at Lycée Notre Dame de Sion Istanbul.
She later wrote for the newspapers Meydan, Hürriyet, Akşam, Yeni Şafak, Takvim, Sabah and Bugün.
[5][6] Ilicak continued writing anti-government articles defending Fethullah Gulen movement after the December 17/25 incidents in 2013.
[8] On 4 November 2019 the court of cassation lowered the sentence to 8 years, 9 months in prison, but released her on probation.