İbrahim Bilgen (2 March 1949 – 31 May 2010) was a Turkish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. He was born in

Batman, Turkey Batman ( ku, Êlih) is a Kurdish-majority city in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and the capital of Batman Province. It lies on a plateau, above sea level, near the confluence of the Batman River and the Tigris. The Batı Raman oi ...

and killed by the Israeli armed forces in the

Gaza flotilla raid The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the " Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine activists and no Israelis were killed on one ship dur ...

Early life and education

Bilgen was born in

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

, to a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

family that had migrated to Turkey from

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He graduated from

Fırat University Fırat University is a public university in Elazığ, Turkey. The university was founded in 1975 and named after the Turkish name of the Euphrates River which originates near Elazığ. Being one of the major academic institutions in the Easter ...

, where he studied

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, and was a member of the

Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey The Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey ( tr, Elektrik Mühendisleri Odası) was established in 1954. It is one of the 23 members of the confederation named Union of chambers of Turkish engineers and architects. Coverage The chamber used t ...

. He had been a resident of

Siirt Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188. History Pr ...

, a south-eastern city of Turkey, since 1980. He was married and had six children.

Political career

Bilgen was one of the founders of

Virtue Party Virtue Party ( tr, Fazilet Partisi, FP) was an Islamist political party established on 17 December 1997 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of ...

. After the Virtue Party was banned by the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

in 2001, he joined the newly formed

Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the C ...

. He was a candidate for Member of Turkish Parliament in 2007 for that party for

Siirt Province Siirt Province, ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Sêrtê) is a province of Turkey, located in the southeast. The province borders Bitlis to the north, Batman to the west, Mardin to the southwest, Şırnak to the south, and Van to the east. It has an ar ...

, but he was not elected, the Felicity Party receiving 884 votes (0.96%) there. In

2009 Turkish local elections Local elections were held in Turkey on 29 March 2009. The overall winner was the ruling party Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice and Development Party, although the party saw a decline in its vote relative to the 2007 Turkish general ...

, he was a candidate for mayor of

, but he was again not elected. In a press interview during his 2009 campaign, he said: "I was born a Felicity man, I will die a Felicity man. Because Felicity is the only national party of Turkey. This party has neither come under the yoke of America, nor of any other country." Since then, he had been serving as a provincial inspector for the

Business career

After working as an electrical engineer in various companies, İbrahim Bilgen founded an electrical engineering company called Bilgen Mühendislik, in 2004. In addition, he founded the first local television channel in Siirt, Selam TV.

Death

As a volunteer for IHH in

, Bilgen joined the Gaza flotilla of May 2010 on board the MV ''Mavi Marmara'', which set sail from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

for the

Gaza strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

on 23 May 2010. He died on 31 May 2010, during the

. According to an autopsy Bilgen died from four gunshot wounds to temple, chest, hip and back.

Reactions to his death

*Afif Demirkıran, Member of Parliament for the

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contemporar ...

from Siirt, said: "May Allah accept the martyrdom of İbrahim Bilgen." *A press statement by the

stated: "We condemn the attack of Israel in which one of our members was killed." *Photographs of İbrahim Bilgen were hung in the streets in Siirt. *

Numan Kurtulmuş Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş (born 23 March 1959) is a Turkish politician and academician, currently the deputy chairman of Justice and Development Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th AKP government ...

, Felicity Party leader, held his photo during a press conference and called him a "martyr". *American author and journalist

Ali Abunimah Ali Hasan Abunimah ( ar, علي حسن ابو نعمة, Arabic: ; born December 29, 1971) is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian confli ...

has reported a claim by Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader of the

Islamic Movement in Israel The Islamic Movement in Israel (also known as the Islamic Movement in 48 Palestine) is an Islamist movement that advocates for Islam in Israel, particularly among Arabs and Circassians. The movement was established and led by Abdullah Nimar Darw ...

who was also on board the ''Mavi Marmara'', that Bilgen may have been deliberately targeted for execution by Israeli forces who mistook him for Raed Salah, and lists some pieces of circumstantial evidence that support this claim.

References

External links

Official website for memorial of İbrahim Bilgen
''Al Jazeera ''

''Al Jazeera'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilgen, Ibrahim 1949 births 2010 deaths Turkish businesspeople Deaths by firearm in international waters Virtue Party politicians Felicity Party politicians Turkish electrical engineers People from Batman, Turkey People from Siirt Gaza flotilla victims