Akın Birdal (born 2 January 1948,

Niğde Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Niğde Province and Niğde District.Niğde Province Niğde Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 7,234 km2, and its population is 365,419 (2022) of which 170,511 live in the city of Niğde. The population was 348,081 in 200 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) is a Turkish human rights activist and politician. He was a member of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

for the

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party (, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was c ...

(DTP) (2007 to 2009) and the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

(BDP) from 2009 to 2011. He is an honorary President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), having been its chair from 1992 to 1998. He has published a number of essays and short stories. He is married with two children.

Education and early life

Birdal is an agricultural engineer by training, graduating from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Faculty of Agriculture, Soil Science Department.kimkimdir.gen.tr
Akın Birdal (1948 - .... )
He went on to do a master's degree in business at the

Gazi University Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...

from where he graduated in 1973. As a university student, he was involved in several agricultural associations. His academic career, begun in 1979, was cut short by the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum. During ...

, and for a time he made a living running a grocery store.

Political career and human rights

Birdal co-founded the Human Rights Association of Turkey in 1986, and became its Secretary-General. He was elected its chairman in 1992. On 3 September 1996 he was detained accused of collaborating with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gue ...

for being part of a delegation who wanted to negotiate the release of Turkish soldiers captured by the PKK. Eight captive soldiers were released. In December 1996 he was acquitted from the charges of collaborating with the PKK. In 1997 Birdal and others were investigated or detained for supporting a peace initiative for the Kurdish Turkish conflict called the

Musa Anter peace train The Musa Anter Peace Train was a failed 1997 campaign organized by the German Hannover Appell for a peaceful solution for the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. It was named in honor of the Kurdish poet and writer Musa Anter. The original plan was for a ...

. In December the same year Birdal was acquitted from the charges relating to his support for the peace train. On 12 May 1998, Birdal barely survived an assassination attempt, when two assailants fired 13 shots at him in the office of the association. The

Turkish Revenge Brigade The Turkish Revenge Brigade (, TİT), also referred as the Turkish Vengeance Brigade, is a militant Turkish nationalist organisation that has used violence against those they perceive as insulting Turkey. In the political violence of the 1970s, ...

claimed responsibility. In 1999 he was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment under Article 312 (of which he served 14 months) for speeches made in 1995 and 1996.Details can be found on the website of the Human Rights Agenda Association in a report calle
Defend Human Rights Defenders
with a direct link to download the report as a word-file; accessed 26 August 2009 In his speeches, he was in favor of a peaceful solution in the conflict between Turkey and the PKK. He was released on medical reasons on 25 September 1999, but on 30 March 2000 a court ruled he must serve the rest of the sentence in prison. In the year 1999 he was adopted as a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. In 2007 the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

ruled that the case breached

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides the right to freedom of expression and information. A fundamental aspect of this right is the freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas, even if the receive ...

, as well as Article 6.1 (right to a fair trial). In 2002 Birdal was one of the founders of the Socialist Democratic Party, becoming its chairman, but stepped down after becoming Vice President of the

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International ...

. Hurriyet Daily News, 17 July 2004
Akin Birdal; a human rights defender and man of many parts
/ref> In July 2007, he stood as an independent candidate in the Turkish parliamentary elections and entered the

Turkish Parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

, representing

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, it is ...

. His candidacy was supported by the Thousand Hopes Candidates alliance. Following his election, he joined the

(DTP) and for the Municipal Elections of March 2009, he was the DTP candidate for the Mayorship of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

but he was not elected. Later in 2009, he joined the

(BDP).

Awards

* ''Jaime Brunet Prize for Human Rights'' (1999)unavarra.es
Akin Birdal, Jaime Brunet Prize 1999
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birdal, Akin 1948 births Living people People from Niğde Democratic Society Party politicians Democratic Regions Party politicians Deputies of Diyarbakır Turkish human rights activists Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Turkey Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights cases involving Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Turkish prisoners and detainees Turkish political party founders