Erkan Baş (born 14 July 1979) is a Turkish
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politician and academic who currently serves as the leader of the
Workers' Party of Turkey
Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...
(TİP) and an MP for
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, ...
.
Early life and education
Erkan Baş was born on 14 July 1979 in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
to a
Bosniak
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
immigrant family from
Sandžak
Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...
. His family name was Jusović in former
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. His father was a worker who went to Germany for work and his mother was a housewife, who also has been a textile worker for a while.
Erkan Baş completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Istanbul and 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
...
, Faculty of Literature, Department of History of Science. He has completed his undergraduate studies in the History of Science Department affiliated to the Istanbul University Faculty of Literature. He worked as guest lecturer at
Istanbul Technical University Department of Humanities and Social Sciences for a while. He was removed from office by the school administration, as the administration did not concur with giving the demanded rights of cafeteria workers, something Baş supported strongly and fought for.
Early political career
Erkan Baş was a member of the
Socialist Power Party (SİP) at a young age, and also has been a co-founder of the
Communist Party of Turkey and has assumed various responsibilities within the party. He was mostly active in the Istanbul organization, as he became the secretary of the province of Istanbul, and was a part of the Bureau of the Organization and the Central Committee. During his tenure, the party carried out the press statement in
Taksim Square
Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...
in the
1 May 2008 demonstrations. He also participated in a student rally in Ankara against legal regulations that would make Hijabs possible to be worn at universities.
General Presidency and Collective Leadership in TKP
At the TKP 9th Congress,
Aydemir Güler
Aydemir Güler (; born 1961) is a Turkish communist politician and was the leader of Communist Party of Turkey (TKP).
Biography
Güler was born in 1961 in Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated from St. Joseph High School and Department of Economics, ...
has left his post as president, and instead, Erkan Baş was elected to the post of president. The TKP General Assembly entered into force with the congressional decision taken to facilitate party representation. The Party Central Committee abolished the "general presidency" office after about 6 months, as this move did not bring about the desired success. The TKP is ruled by the Party Central Committee as a collective leader. However,
TKP split in 2014 into two:
KP and
HTKP, the latter founded by the faction led by Erkan Baş. In 2017,
HTKP members, joining forces with different sections of the Turkish left-wing, founded the
Workers' Party of Turkey
Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...
(TİP).
Workers' Party of Turkey (2017–present)
Baş became a parliamentary candidate of the
Peoples' Democratic Party for the
2018 Turkish general election
General elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018. 2018 Turkish presidential election, Presidential elections were held to elect the President of Turkey using a two-round system. 2018 Turkish parliamentary election, Parliamentary elections to ...
, in which he was elected as a
member of the 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 often ...
for
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, ...
. In November 2018, it was announced that he and
Barış Atay would both resign from the
HDP, and continue their political work under the
Workers' Party of Turkey
Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...
(TİP) instead. Although, members of parliament from
TİP got elected through
HDP and later resigned from
HDP, the two parties maintain close ties and act together on many issues. The possibility of an electoral alliance
in the upcoming elections was given as a possibility. On 25 August 2022,
HDP,
TİP, other left-wing parties put the groundwork for their electoral alliance, known as the
Labour and Freedom Alliance. Under the leadership of Baş, the party was able to increase its seats to four in the parliament, and
TİP has become one of the most fierce opponents against
Erdoğan and
AKP.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baş, Erkan
1979 births
Living people
Turkish people of Bosniak descent
Turkish communists
Turkish Marxists
Leaders of political parties in Turkey
Workers' Party of Turkey (2017) politicians