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

In 1999 he was elected Mayor of Diyarbakır.[1] During his time as Mayor, he advocated for Kurdish rights.[2] He 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.[3] 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.[4] In March 2003 the HADEP was banned, accused of supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and Çelik joined the DEHAP.[5] 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 Osman Baydemir was free to become the candidate.[6]

References
  1. "DİYARBAKIR | YerelNET". 2004-06-19. Archived from the original on 2004-06-19. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  2. "Turkey Outlaws Kurds' Main Party". Los Angeles Times. 2003-03-14. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  3. Arat, Yeşim; Pamuk, Şevket (2019-09-05). Turkey between Democracy and Authoritarianism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-521-19116-6.
  4. "Kurdish Mayors Resume Posts". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.