Yusuf Ekinci (1942, in Diyarbakır – 25 February 1994, in Ankara) was a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

politician in Turkey who was involved in the

Susurluk scandal The Susurluk scandal () was a scandal involving the close relationship among the deep state in Turkey, the Grey Wolves and the Turkish mafia. It took place during the peak of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, in the mid-1990s. The relationship ...

Biography

He was born in Lice to Kamil Ekinci. In June 1963 he was a student of the Faculty of Law at

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

and he was known as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

Kurdish nationalist in the school. He was among the members of the youth organization of the

Workers Party of Turkey Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...

(TİP) which started its activities in Ankara in December 1963, and he worked as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the newspaper ''Emekçi'' (the Laborer), which was the publication of the Party. Following his graduation he went to

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

in April 1969 to do his compulsory practice, and he participated in the rally held here in protest to the draft bill of the Law to Protect the Constitution. During the period of his arrest in 1970 and 1971, he was put on trial on charges of carrying out activities within the Revolutionary East Culture Centers (DDKD). As of 1972 he was working as a lawyer in Diyarbakır trying to strengthen the Kurdish movement. In the Fourth General Assembly of the TİP held in April 1974, he declared that he had dissident opinions to his brother Tarık Ziya Ekinci, and that his main purpose had been the establishment of “

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

” and that he was a “Kurdish nationalist.” Starting from December 1984 he worked as a lawyer in Ankara. He was found dead in the Doktorlar region in Gölbaşı District of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

on 25 February 1994.

References

* (contains the Susurluk reports in English) 1942 births 1994 deaths Kurdish nationalists Kurdish socialists Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey 20th-century Turkish lawyers Workers' Party of Turkey politicians {{Turkey-bio-stub