Deniz Gezmiş

Deniz Gezmiş (born February 27, 1947 in Ankara ; † May 6, 1972 ibid) was a Turkish revolutionary and political activist . He was a member of the Turkish 1968 movement and was one of the founders and leaders of the underground organization People's Liberation Army of Turkey ( Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Ordusu , THKO). He remained a staunch advocate of socialism and Kemalism until his execution at the age of only 25 . He was one of the student leaders in Turkey.

Life

youth

Deniz Gezmiş was born as the second of three sons of the couple Cemil and Mukaddes Gezmiş from Erzurum . He spent his childhood in different places in Turkey due to the fact that his father was a primary school teacher and was often transferred. He successfully completed his high school career in Istanbul . It was around this time that he became interested in politics and gained first insights into the “left” camp.

ideology

Gezmiş was one of the "National Democratic Revolutionaries" (Milli Demokratik Devrim, MDD). These were politically left-wing revolutionaries who first wanted to continue and complete the Kemalist revolution from 1923 to 1945 in order to pave the way for the socialist revolution. Gezmiş wanted to establish a Turkey free from foreign imperialist influence with the THKO he founded. He was a socialist and at the same time regarded Ataturk as an exemplary left revolutionary. He advocated Turkey's withdrawal from NATO , land reform and cultural rights for the minorities in Turkey. He formulated his goals as follows:

"Liquidate America and all external enemies, make short work of traitors and build a Turkey that is completely independent and clean of its enemies."

Political career

After Gezmiş became a member of the Workers' Party of Turkey in 1965 , he took part in the expressions of solidarity for the workers from Çorum as well as protests against the Turk-İş union on Taksim Square on August 31, 1966 and was arrested as a result. On November 7, 1966, he began studying law at Istanbul University . Other, shorter incarcerations followed. On January 30, 1968, he and his fellow students founded the "Organization of Revolutionary Law Students " (Devrimci Hukuklular Örgütü) .

He initiated the university occupation on June 12, 1968 and took part in the protests against the US 6th Fleet, which was anchored in Istanbul at the time. On July 30, 1968, he was arrested for inciting illegal demonstrations and imprisoned in Sultan Ahmed Prison until September 21, 1968 . On November 28, 1968, he was arrested for participating in the protests against the visit of US Ambassador Robert Komer . On May 31, 1969, Gezmiş was wounded during protests at the Istanbul University Law School. He then fled from Turkey and received in Jordan Camps PLO a guerrilla -Education.

On September 1, 1969, he was forcibly de-registered . At the end of 1969, Hüseyin İnan , Deniz Gezmiş, Cihan Alptekin , Yusuf Aslan , Sinan Cemgil and Alpaslan Özdoğan founded the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO). Hüseyin İnan took over the ideological leadership of the organization. The THKO confessed to the bank robbery in Ankara on January 11, 1971 and in return demanded a ransom of $ 400,000 for the four US soldiers kidnapped on March 4, 1971, the release of all revolutionary prisoners and the reading of their manifestos on the radio. After the unsuccessful ultimatum expired, the prisoners were released unharmed.

On March 12, 1971, a military coup took place . In December 1971, Gezmiş and his friends wounded two Turkish police officers who were guarding the US embassy in Ankara. Some THKO members, led by Sinan Cemgil, decided to organize and start the armed struggle against the state from Mount Akçadağ in eastern Anatolia. Gezmiş and Yusuf Aslan set out for the Nurhak Mountains , but were caught in a gun battle with local police in Şarkışla County, Sivas Province . Aslan was unable to continue his escape due to a gunshot wound and was arrested. Gezmiş succeeded in kidnapping Sergeant İbrahim Fırıncı and being driven by him towards Gemerek . Due to a road block near Gemerek, Gezmiş left the car and sought protection in a ditch. Surrounded by his pursuers, he finally surrendered to the security forces after about three hours on March 16, 1971.

process

The trial of Gezmiş began on July 16, 1971 in Ankara. He and 17 other defendants were sentenced to death on October 9, 1971. The verdict was as follows:

“Deniz Gezmiş, [...] mahkememiz Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası'nın tamamını; bir kısmını tağyir, tebdil veya ilgaya cebren teşebbüs suçunu işlediğinizi sabit gördü. Türk Ceza Kanunu 146/1 maddesi uyarınca Ölüm cezası ile tecziyenize karar verdi. "

"Deniz Gezmiş, [...] the court has determined that you have made the criminal attempt to change, replace or abrogate the constitution of the Turkish Republic in whole or in part by force . It sentences you to death in accordance with Art. 146 I of the Turkish Penal Code. "

The judgments were upheld on March 10, 1972 by the Grand National Assembly and six days later by the Senate of the Republic . Bülent Ecevit and İsmet İnönü spoke out against the death penalty ; Suleyman Demirel voted for it. On May 4, 1972, President Cevdet Sunay refused a pardon .

Enforcement of judgment

Gezmiş 'tombstone

The death sentences of Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan were carried out by hanging on May 6, 1972 in Ankara Central Closed Prison . The attorneys Halit Çelenk and Mükerrem Erdoğan , among others, were present as eyewitnesses to the executions . In the attorney's records, Gezmiş's last words after the writer Erdal Öz were recorded as follows:

“ Yaşasın tam bağımsız Türkiye! Yaşasın Marksizm-Leninizm! Yaşasın Kürt-Türk Halklarının Mücadele Birliği! Yaşasın işçiler, köylüler! Kahrolsun emperyalizm! "

“Long live completely independent Turkey! Long live Marxism-Leninism! Long live the brotherhood of the Kurdish and Turkish people! Long live the workers, the peasants! Down with imperialism! "

The journalist Burhan Dodanlı, on the other hand, writes that Gezmiş hung on the gallows for 52 minutes and that his last words were as follows:

“ Yaşasın, Türk Halkının bağımsızlığı! Yaşasın, Marksizmin ve Leninizmin Yüce İdeolojisi! Yaşasın, Türk ve Kürt halklarının bağımsızlık mücadelesi! Kahrolsun emperyalizm! "

“Long live the independence of the Turkish people! Long live the sublime ideology of Marxism-Leninism! Long live the fight for independence of the Turkish and Kurdish people! Down with imperialism! "

Another version of the last words, according to Deniz Gezmiş's lawyer Halit Çelenk :

“ Yaşasın tam bağımsız Türkiye! Yaşasın ... Yaşasın ... Yaşasın işçiler, köylüler! Kahrolsun emperyalizm! "

“Long live completely independent Turkey! Long live ... Long live ... Long live the workers, the farmers! Down with imperialism! "

Deniz Gezmiş is buried in the Ankara Karşıyaka Cemetery.

Adoration

Deniz Gezmiş is revered as an idol by large parts of the Turkish left. There are several plays, films, a television series, several dozen books and several dozen songs about him.

literature

• Nihat Behram : Darağacında Üç Fidan . Everest Yayınları, Istanbul, new edition 2007, ISBN 975-316-817-9 .
• Erdal Öz: Gülünün Solduğu Akşam . Can Yayınları, Istanbul 1999, ISBN 9755100865 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christopher de Bellaigue: Rebel Land. Series of publications, 758. Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 2008 ISBN 3893319344 ; and CH Beck, Munich 2008 ISBN 3406577539 , p. 224
2. ^ Atilla Yayla: Terrorism in Turkey . Sosyal Bilimler Fakanschesi Dergisi 44 (3): 249-262. 1989. ISSN  0378-2921 , there p. 250 ( PDF )
3. ↑ ^{a b} Atilla Yayla: Terrorism in Turkey p. 251
4. ^ Jacob M. Landau: Radical Politics in Modern Turkey . Leiden: EJ Brill, 1974, p. 45 fmwN, ISBN 9789004040168 .
5. ↑ Erdal Öz: Gülünün Solduğu Akşam . Can Yayınları, Istanbul 1999, p. 245, ISBN 9755100865 .
6. ↑ Burhan Dodanlı: Darağacı . Evren Yayınları, Istanbul 1978, p. 337 ff.
7. ↑ Halit Çelenk: İdam Gecesi Anıları p. 89 ff., Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1998, ISBN 9754781044 .