Erdinç Tekir (born November 17, 1966) is a Turkish member of the IHH of Abkhaz origin."Avrasya Feribotunu Kaçıran Tekir'den İlginç Açıklamalar" (Interview by Mustafa Uzun)
, ''Anadolu'da Vakit'', December 11, 2009 He was previously convicted for his participation at the Black Sea hostage crisis. He worked for the IHH since he was released from prison and joined the Gaza Flotilla.

Georgian–Abkhazian and Russian-Chechen conflicts

As a member of an Islamic youth organization named Milli Gençlik Vakfı, Tekir joined the group of

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...

in the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict with code name Hadjarat, in the summer of 1992. He wanted to go to

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

in 1994 to participate in the Chechen War, when he was a sergeant in the Abkhazian Army. Since he could not pass to Chechenya from Abkhazia, he used the way from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

to Chechnya. He did not manage to go to Chechnya, as he was handed over to Russians and detained in a prison. However, he escaped from the prison and returned to Turkey where he participated in hijacking the ferryboat MV ''Avrasya'' in 1996. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in Turkey,"Activist on ‘Mavi Marmara’ Black Sea ferry hijacker,"
Herb Keinon, August 24, 2010, Jerusalem Post. but was released after serving three and a half years.

As an IHH member

After being released from prison, Tekir joined İHH for its released prisoner quota and worked for several İHH campaigns, first as a volunteer, and then as an İHH employee. He was one of the İHH members aboard the ship during the

Gaza flotilla raid Ships of Gaza flotilla raid, Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty woun ...

."Turkish Press Scan for Aug. 20, Two Ships, Same Activist,"
August 20, 2010, Hürriyet. He was wounded by the IDF boarding party.Fatma Aksu
"Bizler iyilik korsanıydık"
''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'', August 21, 2010. Tekir told Hürriyet that the group that hijacked the ferryboat and the Israelis who boarded the ''Mavi Marmara'' were both pirates, but they were the pirates of goodness, whereas Israel was cruel. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tekir's previous conviction for the hijacking, alleging "This shows what kind of people were on the ship."" Flotilla Member Participated In Past Terror Attacks,"
Elad Benari, August 31, 2010, Israel National News.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tekir, Erdinc 1966 births Living people Hijackers Abkhazian military personnel Turkish people of Abkhazian descent Gaza flotilla raid Turkish people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Russia Prisoners and detainees of Turkey