Ziya Hurşit Bey (1892 – July 14, 1926) was one of the first

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

. He was executed in 1926 for attempting to assassinate

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mo ...

. Ziya Hurşit was born in the town of

Çamlıhemşin Çamlıhemşin, formerly Vice, ( lzz, ვიჯა ''Vija'' or ვიჯე ''Vije'' ; ka, ვიჯა ''Vija'' ) is a small town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. With its mountains and valleys in all shades of ...

Rize Province Rize Province ( tr, Rize ili) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon Province, Trabzon and Artvin Province, Artvin. The province of Erzurum Province, Erzurum is to the south. It was ...

in 1892.Hakkı Uyar, ''Tek Parti Dönemi ve Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi'', Boyut Kitapları, 1998,
p. 188.
/ref> He was a member of Kurdoğlu family. He was educated on

ship construction Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He participated in

Erzurum Congress Erzurum Congress ( tr, Erzurum Kongresi) was an assembly of Turkish Revolutionaries held from 23 July to 4 August 1919 in the city of Erzurum, in eastern Turkey, in accordance with the previously issued Amasya Circular. The congress united dele ...

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

delegate. He fought in

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

as a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

. He took part in the 1st

Lazistan Lazistan ( lzz, ლაზონა, Lazona; ka, ლაზეთი, Lazeti, or ჭანეთი ''Ç'aneti''; ota, لازستان, Lazistān) is a historical and cultural region of the Caucasus and Anatolia, traditionally inhabited by the Laz ...

deputy. He had been a member of the

Yozgat Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2019 census, population of the district is 421,200 of which 106,280 live in the city of Yozgat. History The first surveys were s ...

Independence Court An Independence Tribunal ( tr, İstiklâl Mahkemesi, plural ''İstiklâl Mahkemeleri'') was a court invested with superior authority and the first were established in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence in order to prosecute those who we ...

for a period of time. However, his views differed from

's. He was unable to be elected as deputy to the 2nd Assembly. On June 16, 1926, he was arrested for planning an

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

against

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

. According to evidence, those who acted with Ziya Hurşit, including Gürcü Yusuf, Laz İsmail, and Çopur Hilmi, planned to shoot Mustafa Kemal dead in front of Kemeraltı prison. Ziya Hurşit and his accomplices, taking advantage of chaos caused, would embark on the boat of the

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Şevki Bey, which was waiting in the

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

, by a car waiting in the Yemiş

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

and flee to

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

. However, at the last moment, as a consequence of Şevki Bey's confession and incriminating of the others, Ziya Hurşit and his friends were captured. It was understood that behind the

was a group in the Progressive Republican Party, an opposition party in the

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. The party was closed down. Ziya Hurşit and his accomplices were sentenced to death, and on July 14, 1926, he was executed with 13 other men, including Laz İsmail, Gürcü Yusuf, Çopur Hilmi, Şükrü Bey, "Ayıcı" Arif, and İsmail Canbulat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hursit, Ziya 1892 births 1926 deaths Turkish people of the Turkish War of Independence People executed by Turkey by hanging Executed Turkish people People executed for treason against Turkey 20th-century executions for treason