Tuncer Bakırhan (born 1970,

Susuz Susuz (, , ) is a town in Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Susuz District.

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

) is a Turkish politician and current co-leader of the DEM Party. He is a former chairman of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) and the former Mayor of Siirt. He was dismissed from his duties as mayor by the Turkish ministry of the interior, arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Early life and education

He grew up in Susuz and attended his primary and secondary education in Kars and studied at the Uludağ University in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. During his studies he was detained and accused for supporting the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK) but released shortly after.

Political career

He began to be involved in the youth wing of the People's Labour Party (HEP) in 1989 and was a candidate for Kars in the local election 1999, but was not elected. Later he was elected the party chairmen of the

People's Democracy Party People's Democracy Party (, HADEP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey. Murat Bozlak founded the party on 11 May 1994. The party disbanded in 2003. History Bozlak's first chairmanship Party founder and attorney Murat Bozlak was the part ...

(HADEP) for the province of Kars. After the HADEP was closed down in 2003 he joined the DEHAP. He was elected chairman of the DEHAP on the second extraordinary party congress in June 2003. In the parliamentary election in 2002 his party received the most votes in his electoral district but could not assume due to the fact that the party did not pass the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

. Under his leadership, the party initiated a peace campaign for the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish Government and he called for a general amnesty for the members of the PKK in order to facilitate the rebels to participate in the political process. The DEHAP dissolved itself in November 2005 and following he joined the

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party (, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was c ...

(DTP) and became the parties vice chairmen. He was the DTP candidate for

Esenyurt Esenyurt (), formerly known as Ksenos, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 43 km2, and its population is 983,571 (2022). Located in the European side of Istanbul, Es ...

in the local elections 2009, but was not elected. In the local elections in 2014 he was elected the Mayor of Siirt for the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

(BDP). He was dismissed by the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

in November 2016 and detained the same day. He was formally arrested on the 16 December 2016 and in July 2018 he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for being a member of terrorist organization and making propaganda for a terrorist organization. He was arrested for 2 years and 11 months before his release. The

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

ruled against Turkey over his arrest in September 2021 ordered to pay Bakırhan the sum of 10'000

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s. In the parliamentary elections of May 2023, he was elected into the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

for representing the Green Left Party (YSP) for Siirt.

Other legal prosecution

During his political career he was prosecuted many times often relating to "freedom of expression". In 2004 he was prosecuted for saying hello and good bye in

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

during an election rally. He was arrested on 17 January 2012 due to an investigation in the

Kurdistan Communities Union The Kurdistan Communities Union (, KCK) is a Kurdish political organization committed to implementing Abdullah Öcalan's ideology of democratic confederalism. The KCK also serves as an umbrella group for several confederalist political parties o ...

(KCK) and released from prison on the 30 April 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakirhan, Tuncer Turkish Kurdish politicians Democratic Society Party politicians People expelled from public office People from Kars Province People from Susuz 1970 births Living people Democratic People's Party (Turkey) politicians People's Labor Party politicians Deputies of Siirt Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians