Abdullah Levent Tüzel (born 12 July 1961) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

politician who was one of the founders of the Labour Party (EMEP) in 1996. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Istanbul's third electoral district, had been elected as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

in the 2011 general election with the backing of the Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc. He was with the parliamentary group of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Tüzel graduated from

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

Law school and has been a freelance lawyer since 1985. Founding the Labour Party in 1996, he managed resigned before the 2011 general election in order to contest the election as an independent 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, ...

. Despite recent disagreements between EMEP and the HDP regarding the influence of Kurdish nationalism within the party, Tüzel joined the HDP and was HDP Member of Parliament until the end of his term.

Early life and career

Abdullah Levent Tüzel was born on 12 July 1961 in

Bulancak Bulancak (Georgian: ''ბულანჩაკი'') is a town in Giresun Province on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, near the city of Giresun. Its former name is Terastios. It is the seat of Bulancak District.Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

Faculty of Law. In 1985, he became a freelance lawyer. He became a member of the Human Rights Foundation Istanbul executive board and also served as the President of the Modern Lawyers Association Istanbul Branch.

Political career

Labour Party

In 1996, Tüzel became one of the founding members of the Labour Party (EMEP) and served as the party's leader until 1 June 2007, after which he resigned to contest the 2007 general election as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. He was supported by the Thousand Hope Candidates bloc, formed of several small left-wing organisations that aimed to bypass the 10% election threshold by fielding candidates as independents. Running for election in İzmir's first electoral district, he failed to secure enough votes to win a seat in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He subsequently resumed his role as the leader of the Labour Party.

Election to Parliament

In the 2011 general election, Tüzel once again resigned from the Labour Party to contest the election as an independent, this time supported by the Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc. Contesting the election in Istanbul's third electoral district, he won a seat and became one of the 35 Bloc MPs elected to Parliament.

Peoples' Democratic Party

In 2013, Tüzel joined the newly formed Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which had been formed by a coalition of left-wing political groups that had participated in the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK). The Labour Party was initially part of the HDP, though later withdrew over disagreements over the inclusion of Kurdish nationalist parties in the HDP. However, as a proponent of freeing

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish separatist

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK), Tüzel remained as a HDP MP and the Labour Party decided to support the HDP during the June 2015 general election, in which Tüzel was re-elected as an MP from third electoral district.

References

External links

MP profile on the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuzel, Abdullah Levent 1961 births Living people People from Bulancak Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni