Feridun Çelik

Feridun Çelik (born 1966, Kulp, Diyarbakır[1]) is a former Mayor of Diyarbakır and politician of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) and Democratic People's Party (DEHAP).

Feridun Celik
Mayor of Diyarbakır
In office
18 April 1999 – 2004
Succeeded byOsman Baydemir
Personal details
Born1966
Kulp
Political partyHADEP
DEHAP
Alma materDicle University
OccupationLawyer

Biography

He studied Law at the Dicle University, from where he graduated in 1987. He began his political career at the People's Labour Party (HEP) and was elected party chair for Diyarbakirır province for the HADEP in 1997.[2] Feridun Celik was also a lawyer of Abdullah Öcalan and was refused the permission to visit him after he was captured an brought to Turkey.[3] As the party chair of HADEP, he was shortly arrested in 1999.[4] But in the same year, with only 33 years of age, he was elected Mayor of Diyarbakır.[1][5] During his term as Mayor, he advocated for an end of the Kurdish Turkish conflict, and supported the idea of the different nations of Turkey living peacefully together.[6] He supported Kurdish rights[7] and enabled that the Newroz festivities, which are an important festivity in the Kurdish culture, were held legally after he asked permission to hold them from the Governor from Diyarbakir.[8] In February 2000 he was arrested together with the mayors of Siirt and Bingöl, following their meeting with European politicians where they discussed the status of Kurdish rights in Turkey. They were accused of hiring relatives of PKK members in their municipalities. After a few days, he was released with the other mayors.[9] In March 2003 the HADEP was banned, accused of supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and Çelik joined the DEHAP.[10] In 2004 Çelik was unsure if to launch a bid for to be the Mayor of Diyarbakır, he wanted to run as an independent with the support of the PKK and against the will of his own party who chose Osman Baydemir to be the candidate for the Mayorship of Diyarbakır. After some quarrels, he withdrew his candidacy and Baydemir was free to become the candidate.[11] Following he was a part of the team of attorneys of Öcalan.[12] He was detained on the 26 May 2017, due to an investigation into his activities in the Democratic Society Congress,[13] but released pending trial on the 14 June of the same year.[14]

References
  1. "DİYARBAKIR | YerelNET". 2004-06-19. Archived from the original on 2004-06-19. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  2. "Feridun Çelik kimdir? - Yeni Akit". www.yeniakit.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  3. "DFR - EGMR 46221/99 - Öcalan v. Turkey". www.servat.unibe.ch. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  4. "El jefe del brazo armado del PKK asegura que "la lucha continúa"". El Mundo. 18 February 1999. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. Güney, Aylin (2002). "The People's Democracy Party" (PDF). p. 128. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. Güney, Aylin (2002).p.130
  7. "Turkey Outlaws Kurds' Main Party". Los Angeles Times. 2003-03-14. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  8. Arat, Yeşim; Pamuk, Şevket (2019-09-05). Turkey between Democracy and Authoritarianism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-521-19116-6.
  9. "Kurdish Mayors Resume Posts". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Turkey: The situation and treatment of members, supporters and sympathizers of leftist parties, particularly the People's Democratic Party (HADEP) and Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) (January 2003 - September 2004)". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  11. Watts, Nicole F. (2011-07-01). Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey. University of Washington Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-0-295-80082-0.
  12. Wikileaks. "Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for May 05, 2005 | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  13. Gazetesi, Evrensel. "Diyarbakır'da 3 siyasetçi tutuklandı". Evrensel.net (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  14. "DTK soruşturmasından tutuklanan Feridun Çelik ve Mehmet Can Tekin tahliye edildi". Yolculuk Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
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