Tayfun Gönül (1958,
Ä°zmit
Ä°zmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of Ä°zmit in the Sea ...
- 30 July 2012, Istanbul) was a
Turkish anarchist,
writer, doctor and the first
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...
in
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 ...
.
Biography
Gönül's childhood years were spent in Izmir and Istanbul. After graduating from
Ankara Science High School
Ankara High School of Science (; also called as its old name High School of Science en Lisesi - (FL is a public boarding high school in Ankara, Turkey with a curriculum concentrated on natural sciences and mathematics for top-notch students. ...
, he studied medicine at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine and graduated as a qualified doctor. His father was also a doctor like himself. Since his high school years, he wrote a plethora of articles for Halkın Sesi (Aydınlık). In the 1980s, he started writing for the magazines Sokak and Yeni Olgu, and in 1986 he began writing for ''Kara'', the first anarchist magazine in Turkey. Moving from Istanbul to Izmir, Gönül founded the Izmir War Resisters Association.
In 1989, he declared his conscientious objection to the
compulsory military service that existed in the Turkish state at the time, and took the Turkish state to court over this matter. During these years,
Tuğrul Eryılmaz Tuğrul can refer to:
* TuÄŸrul, Mut, a village in Mut district of Mersin Province, Turkey
* Tuğrul, Yığılca, a village in the Yığılca District of Düzce Province in Turkey
* Tughril (990-1063), Turkoman founder of the Seljuk Empire
* Toghri ...
, with whom Gönül had worked at Sokak magazine, started the campaign "No to compulsory military service". Following the launch of the campaign, Gönül, together with Eryılmaz and Metin Münir, the editor-in-chief of
Güneş newspaper, were put on trial on charges of "alienating the public from military service".
In 1993, he worked extensively to unite all anarchist circles and publications under the Apolitika project. Finally, in 1999, he started publishing the weekly newspaper Efendisizler. Meanwhile, Gönül returned to Antalya and his illness began to take its toll.
[
On 15 February 2012, Gönül suffered a heart infarction. He survived, and was later discharged after two months in hospital. In 2012, he participated in the World Conscientious Objectors Day which is held every year on 15 May, and made a short speech. However, later that year, on Monday the 30th of July 2012 at around 23.30, Gönül suffered another heart attack while at home and later died in hospital. His body was taken from Zincirlikuyu cemetery morgue and buried in Kilyos cemetery by his friends on 02 of August 2012.]
Publications
* ''Düzenden Kaosa Zuhur (Gediz Akdeniz ile Söyleşi)'', 2008[
* ''Anarşizm Nedir?'', 2010 (Broşür dizisi)][
* ''Akiba'', 2010]
Bibliography
External links
Resmî sitesi
"Tıpta Ölümle Barışmak" isimli akademik bir yazısı
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gönül, Tayfun
Turkish conscientious objectors
Turkish activists
Turkish anarchists
Turkish journalists
1958 births
2012 deaths
21st-century anarchists
Ankara Science High School alumni