İbrahim Bilgen (2 March 1949 – 31 May 2010) was a Turkish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. He was born in

Batman, Turkey Batman (; ) is a city and capital of Batman District in Batman Province, Turkey. It lies on a plateau, above sea level, near the confluence of the Batman River and the Tigris and had a population of 452,157 in 2021. It is populated by Kurds. ...

and killed by the Israel armed forces in the

Gaza flotilla raid Ships of Gaza flotilla raid, Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty woun ...

Early life and education

Bilgen was born on 2 March 1949 in

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

to a Kurdish family that had migrated to Turkey from

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He graduated from Fırat University, where he studied

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, and was a member of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey. He had been a resident of Siirt, a south-eastern city of Turkey, since 1980. He was married and had six children.

Political career

Bilgen was one of the founders of

Virtue Party Virtue Party (, FP) was an Islamist political party established on 17 December 1997 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of the Constitution. A ...

. After the Virtue Party was banned by the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( Turkish: ''Anayasa Mahkemesi'', sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of law ...

in 2001, he joined the newly formed

Felicity Party The Felicity Party (, SAADET) is an Islamism, Islamist Turkey, Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (Turkey), Virtue Party ...

. He was a candidate for Member of Turkish Parliament in 2007 for that party for Siirt Province, but he was not elected, the Felicity Party receiving 884 votes (0.96%) there. In 2009 Turkish local elections, he was a candidate for mayor of Siirt, but he was again not elected. In a press interview during his 2009 campaign, he said: "I was born a Felicity man, I will die a Felicity man. Because Felicity is the only national party of Turkey. This party has neither come under the yoke of America, nor of any other country." Since then, he had been serving as a provincial inspector for the

Business career

After working as an electrical engineer in various companies, İbrahim Bilgen founded an electrical engineering company called Bilgen Mühendislik, in 2004. In addition, he founded the first local television channel in Siirt, Selam TV.

Death

As a volunteer for IHH in Siirt, Bilgen joined the Gaza flotilla of May 2010 on board the MV ''Mavi Marmara'', which set sail from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

for the

Gaza strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

on 23 May 2010. He died on 31 May 2010, during the

. According to an autopsy Bilgen died from four gunshot wounds to temple, chest, hip and back.

Reactions to his death

*Afif Demirkıran, Member of Parliament for the

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

from Siirt, said: "May Allah accept the martyrdom of İbrahim Bilgen." *A press statement by the Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey stated: "We condemn the attack of Israel in which one of our members was killed." *Photographs of İbrahim Bilgen were hung in the streets in Siirt. *

Numan Kurtulmuş Numan Kurtulmuş (born 15 September 1959) is a Turkish politician and academic who is currently the speaker of the Grand National Assembly. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th AKP governments between ...

, Felicity Party leader, held his photo during a press conference and called him a "martyr". *American author and journalist Ali Abunimah has reported a claim by Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader of the

Islamic Movement in Israel The Islamic Movement in Israel (; ) also known as the Islamic Movement in '48 Palestine () is an Islamist movement that advocates for Islam in Israel, particularly among Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs and Circassians in Israel, Circassians. The ...

who was also on board the ''Mavi Marmara'', that Bilgen may have been deliberately targeted for execution by Israeli forces who mistook him for Raed Salah, and lists some pieces of circumstantial evidence that support this claim.

References

External links

Official website for memorial of İbrahim Bilgen
''Al Jazeera ''

''Al Jazeera'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilgen, Ibrahim 1949 births 2010 deaths Turkish businesspeople Virtue Party politicians Felicity Party politicians Turkish electrical engineers People from Batman, Turkey People from Siirt Gaza flotilla victims