Fikri Sönmez (widely known as ''Terzi Fikri'' ("Fikri the Tailor")) (1938 - 4 May 1985) was a Turkish

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician, who served as the mayor of

Fatsa Fatsa is a town and a district of Ordu Province in the central Black Sea region of Turkey. Population from Fatsa is more than 115,000. Name The oldest recorded name of the town is Polemonion ( grc, Πολεμώνιον, Latinized as Polemonium), ...

district of

Ordu Province Ordu Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Samsun to the northwest, Tokat to the southwest, Sivas to the south, and Giresun to the east. Its license-plate code is 52. The capital ...

between 1979 and 1980.

Early years

He was born in the

Chveneburi Georgians in Turkey ( ka, ქართველები თურქეთში) refers to citizens and denizens of Turkey who are, or descend from, ethnic Georgians. Numbers and distribution In the census of 1965, those who spoke Georgian ...

(

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

) village of Kabakdağı in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. After the primary school, he started to work as a tailor in a workshop. He moved to

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, ...

, he joined 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) in the 1960s. He took part in protests against the Turkey visits of the

United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

since 1969 on the side of

Dev-Genç The Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Devrimci Gençlik Federasyonu), often known simply as Revolutionary Youth ( tr, Devrimci Gençlik, DEV-GENÇ) was a Marxist-Leninist organization founded in 1965 in Turkey and banned i ...

(Revolutionary Youth). From 1972 to 1974, Sönmez was imprisoned for his support to the Turkish revolutionary activist

Mahir Çayan Mahir Çayan (15 March 1946 – 30 March 1972) was a Turkish communist revolutionary and the leader of People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi''). He was a Marxist–Leninist revolutiona ...

. After 1975, he joined political activities in the cities of

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, historically also known as Cotyora or Kotyora ( pnt, Κοτύωρα), and the capital of Ordu Province with a population of 229,214 in the city center. Name Kotyora, the ori ...

Giresun Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. Etymology Giresun wa ...

and

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...

Mayorship

After the death of Nazmiye Komitoğlu, who was the mayor of

from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP), he ran for the vacant seat as an independent. After his election as the mayor, he split Fatsa into eleven regions and created people's committees. He made campaigns against the violence against women, the poor infrastructure in Fatsa, gambling, diseases because of the bad conditions in the town. Because of his success in the town, he got support from different political movements in the town. He was blamed creating a new state inside the Turkish Republic by the Justice Party (AP). On 11 July 1980, Turkish military conducted an operation against the town. Fikri Sönmez was arrested and put into prison. He died of a heart attack in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th e ...

penitentiary on 4 May 1985. He was survived by his wife Nurten Sönmez, he married in 1962, and his sons Naci and Yusuf.

External links

A history of social struggles in Fatsa (1960 - 1980), Boğaziçi University, Kerem Morgül

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonmez, Fikri Turkish communists Turkish socialists 1938 births 1985 deaths Turkish people who died in prison custody Mayors of places in Turkey People from Fatsa Turkish people of Georgian descent Prisoners who died in Turkish detention