İlhan Erdost (17 December 1944– 7 November 1980) was a Turkish publisher. He was one of the leftist figures who were killed after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

in 1980.

Biography

Erdost was born in Artova, Tokat, on 17 December 1944. He started working after elementary school, because of his family’s poverty and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Thereafter, he settled in Ankara with his older brother Muzaffer İlhan Erdost. He started school again there. He adopted

Kemalist Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. Ne ...

thinking in his years at high school. After the 1960 Turkish coup d'état, when he was 16, his opinions turned towards the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

. Erdost, after high school, entered

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Faculty of Law. At the same time, he worked for Sol Yayınları (Sol Publications), but was not able to finish school. After his brother Muzaffer Erdost was imprisoned on 12 March 1971, he assumed the responsibility of Sol Publications and Onur Publications. In the meantime he married his wife Gül Erdost. They had two daughters. After the coup d'état ob 12 September 1980, he was charged with having and printing banned publications and was taken into custody. The particular book that occasioned the arrest was ''

Dialectics of Nature ''Dialectics of Nature'' () is an unfinished 1883 work by Friedrich Engels that applies Marxist ideas – particularly those of dialectical materialism – to nature. History and contents Engels wrote most of the manuscript between ...

'' by

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Karşıyaka cemetery The Karşıyaka Cemetery () is a modern burial ground located at Karşıyaka neighborhood in Yenimahalle district of Ankara Province, Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West ...

, Ankara. Leman Sam’s song “Ağıt” was composed for İlhan Erdost. His older brother Muzaffer Erdost, after İlhan Erdost’s death, changed his name to Muzaffer İlhan Erdost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdost, Ilhan 1944 births 1980 deaths Prisoners who died in Turkish detention Turkish publishers (people) Turkish people who died in prison custody Burials at Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara People from Tokat Province