Ali Haydar Yıldız

Ali Haydar Yıldız
Born	1953 Erturan, Palu, Elazığ, Turkey
Died	24 January 1973 Vartinik, Çemişgezek, Tunceli, Turkey
Political party	Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (1972–1973)

Ali Haydar Yıldız (1953 – 24 January 1973) was a Kurdish political activist and a founding member of the far-left Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TKP/ML-TİKKO) insurgent organization in Turkey in 1972. Yıldız was shot and killed in a shoot-out with Turkish soldiers in 1973.^[1]

Biography

Ali Haydar Yıldız was born in 1953 in the village of Erturan in Palu, Elazığ to a Kurdish family. After finishing high school in Elazığ in 1970, he moved to Istanbul where he became influenced by people involved in the protests of 1968 and would join them in their activities. In 1970, he was arrested by Turkish authorities and tortured for 48 hours in his month-long detention. His time in prison formed his view on the Kurdish question.^[2] After being released, he met İbrahim Kaypakkaya and they founded the TKP/ML-TİKKO in 1972.^[3]

Death

On 24 January 1973, Yıldız, Kaypakkaya and other members of TKP/ML-TİKKO lived in the village of Vartinik in Tunceli Province. When Turkish soldiers approached them, they attempted to flee but were hit by bullets and pretended to be dead. While the others were able to flee, Yıldız was left behind and died from his wounds. Kaypakkaya was caught four days later and died because of mutilatation of his body during interrogation^[4][5][6][7]

References

1. Elifcan Karacan (2015). Remembering the 1980 Turkish Military Coup d'État: Memory, Violence, and Trauma. p. 95. ISBN 978-3658113209.
2. İnönü Alpat (1988). Popüler Türk solu sözlüğü (in Turkish). p. 21. ISBN 9789757573043.
3. Nihat Behram (1 May 2015). Ser verip sır vermeyen bir yiğit (in Turkish) (16. ed.). Everest. p. 44. ISBN 978-975-289-194-4.
4. https://siyasihaber9.org/18-mayis-1973-ser-verip-sir-vermeyen-ibrahim-kaypakkaya/
5. Turhan Feyizoğlu (2011). İbo: İhtilalin Fidanı. Alfa Basım Dağıtım. pp. 195 & 291. ISBN 978-605-106-394-2.
6. Muzaffer Oruçoğlu (2008). Tohum (in Turkish) (9 ed.). Babek Yayınları. p. 442.
7. Nihat Behram (1 May 2015). Ser verip sır vermeyen bir yiğit (in Turkish) (16. ed.). Everest. p. 46. ISBN 978-975-289-194-4.