Ertuğrul Kürkçü

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Ertuğrul Kürkçü (2014)

Ertuğrul Kürkçü (born May 5, 1948 in Bursa ) is a Turkish socialist, journalist, writer and member of the Turkish National Assembly .

At the THKP-C

Kürkçü was an activist of the 1968 movement and founded the underground organization of the Turkish People's Liberation Party Front (THKP-C) in 1970 with Mahir Çayan and others . On October 18, 1970 he was elected chairman of the Dev-Genç (Federation of Revolutionary Youth of Turkey). On March 26, 1972, the THKP-C hijacked two British and one Canadian technicians from a radar station in Ünye on the Black Sea . In doing so, they intended to press Deniz Gezmiş , Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan , who had been sentenced to death as leaders of the THKO, free. Four days later, on March 30, 1972, Kürkçü and his comrades were arrested by the Jandarma in the village of Kızıldere in Tokat Province . All but Kürkçü were killed in the operation. Kürkçü survived because he was hiding in a haystack. He was sentenced to death in a special court, but his death sentence was commuted to a 30-year prison term in 1974. In 1986 he was released after 14 years in prison.

Writing activity

Kürkçü became active again as a writer and politician and was editor of the encyclopedia Sosyalizm ve Toplumsal Mücadeleler Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Socialism and Social Struggles). On March 14, 1997, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for translating a Human Rights Watch report. However, he went to the European Court of Human Rights and won compensation.

Between 2002 and 2007 he published the political and cultural magazine Siyasi Gazete . He is also the coordinator and writer on the independent political portal www.bianet.org. In addition to his activities in the socialist parties, he also became a member of the Democratic Toplum Kongresi (DTK), which deals with the Kurdish question in Turkey, among other things.

politics

In 1996 he co-founded the Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi (ÖDP). But after internal party struggles, some new parties were founded in which Kürkçü held various posts.

For the parliamentary elections in June 2011 , Kürkçü stood as an independent candidate for the province of Mersin and was elected to parliament. After the election, he joined the pro-Kurdish Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi . During his swearing in on October 1, 2011, he appeared at the lectern at Kızıldere with ten carnations on his lapel as a sign of his ten friends who had been killed.

For the local elections in March 2014 , the BDP MPs Kürkçü, Sebahat Tuncel and Sırrı Süreyya Önder decided to leave the party at the end of October 2013 and join the Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP; Democratic Party of the Peoples). The idea behind this was to achieve greater chances in the elections with the HDP, because the "Kurdish party" BDP is unattractive in the west of the country. At the party convention of the HDP on October 27, 2013 in Ankara, Kürkçü was elected party chairman together with Tuncel. After his speech at the party congress, Kürkçü suffered a heart attack, but his life is not in danger.

In accordance with the HDP rules of conduct, which prevent the election of members for a representative office more than twice, Kürkçü did not vote for the parliamentary elections on June 24, 2018, but retains his membership in the party assembly and in the central executive committee as intended HDP Honorary Chairman status. Kürkçü had previously joined the TBMM as an independent member of parliament for Mersin in the 2011 parliamentary elections.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Prospects for peace in Turkey growing bleak, HDP leader tells UK MPs . In: Middle East Eye . ( middleeasteye.net [accessed September 21, 2018]).
  2. ^ Ian Traynor: 'Terrorized' writers lament state's assault on free speech. December 16, 2005, accessed September 21, 2018 .
  3. ↑ 3 BDP'li vekil istifa etti , article in Radikal from October 23, 2013
  4. ↑ HDP Genel Başkanlığı'na Sebahat Tuncel seçildi , article in Radikal of October 27, 2013
  5. ↑ Ertuğrul Kürkçü hastaneye kaldırıldı , article in Radikal of October 27, 2013
  6. ^ Dorian Jones: Turkey's Pro-Kurdish Party Seeks to Redraw Political Borders . In: VOA . ( voanews.com [accessed August 2, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Kürkçü, Ertuğrul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Turkish socialist, journalist, writer and member of the Turkish National Assembly
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Bursa , Turkey