Osman Baydemir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Osman Baydemir (born 1971) is a Turkish politician, lawyer and human rights activist of Kurdish origin. He is the current mayor of his home town of Diyarbakır and member of the Democratic Society Party (DTP).

Contents

[edit] Life and career

Osman Baydemir graduated from the Law Faculty at Dicle University in Diyarbakır. In 1995 he became the chair of the Diyarbakır branch of the independent Human Rights Association İnsan Haklari Derneği (İHD or HRA). Between 1995 and 2002 he also was a board member and became vice-president of the association.[1] In February 1999 he became one of the first lawyer who volunteered to defend Abdullah Öcalan.[2] In 2001 he became a founding member of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT or TİHV Türkiye İnsan Hakları Vakfı).[3] At the general elections in 2002, he was the candidate of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), but the party failed to reach the 10% election threshold. In 2003, Baydemir spent 6 months in the United States, in order to improve his English. In 2004, he was elected mayor of Diyarbakır.[4]

In May 2005 he got married to Reyhan Yalçındağ, who is the deputy chair of the Human Rights Association in Turkey. On 23 April 2006 their son Mirzanyar was born.

[edit] Charges and threats

As a claimed terrorist and as a politician Osman Baydemir has been subjected to persecution on various levels. According to a report of Amnesty International of 12 February 2004 there were 200 court cases against him for his human rights activities.[5] The daily Radikal reported on 11 July 2006 that during the last two years a total of 129 investigations against him had been conducted.[6]

Osman Baydemir has received numerous threats. In June 2001 Amnesty International issued an urgent action on his behalf.[7] After the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January 2007 Osman Baydemir was among several people who received death threats.[8]

Recent court cases against Osman Baydemir include:

  • In May 2006 Osman Baydemir was charged with an illegal act by providing an ambulance of the municipality for the transport of a corpse.[9] In September 2006 Osman Baydemir was acquitted.[10]
  • Osman Baydemir and 55 more mayors of the regions were indicted because in December 2005 they signed a petition to the Danish Prime Minister urging him not to close the Kurdish television station Roj TV. They were charged with supporting the PKK. The trial started in September 2006. In April 2007 the prosecutor asked for sentences of 15 years' imprisonment for 52 mayors.[11]
  • He was prosecuted for violating a Turkish law prohibiting the use of letters not in the Turkish alphabet when he sent out a New Year's greeting in Kurdish which included the letter "W".[12] On 19 April 2007 Diyarbakır Peace Court No. 2 dropped the charges since the Ministry of Justice had not permitted that such a case be heard.[13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Information found on the website Kim Kimdir?
  2. ^ For a sample of the coverage in Turkey see an article in eine Hürriyet of 24 February 1999
  3. ^ See the website of the HRFT
  4. ^ Information found on the website Kim Kimdir?
  5. ^ See footnote 18 of the report on Pressure on Human Rights Defenders
  6. ^ See original article
  7. ^ The full text can be found on the website of Amnesty International
  8. ^ See an article in freemuse of 10 April 2007
  9. ^ See the news item in the daily Milliyet
  10. ^ Report in the daily Radikal
  11. ^ See an English article on the hearing in April 2007
  12. ^ See the daily bulletin of the HRFT of 6 April 2007
  13. ^ See the daily bulletin of the HRFT of 20 April 2007

[edit] External links