Mass circulation daily Hurriyet fired its controversial columnist Emin Colasan Tuesday night. Colasan was known for his strong articles highly critical of the government. In the past Colasan opposed the Ozal administration and had to pay heavy fines. His opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdllah Gul and Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek has been particularly strong. Colasan is known to be one of the leading columnists of the secularist front. News that Colasan was fired sparked angry reaction among some Hurriyet readers who called the paper to protest the move. There were also rumors that Bekir Coskun, another opposition columnist would also quit but Coskun denied these. Colasan's departure from Hurriyet seemed imminent when the paper recruited a new columnist Yilmaz Ozdil who is also a more moderate critic of the government.