Ahmet Fehmi Işıklar (born 1941,

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

) is 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 ...

, and worked as a unionist, a member of the executive board and General Secretary of the Metal-İş Federation, the President of Çağdaş Metal İş, and the Secretary General of DİSK. He also served as a member of parliament for

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 ...

in the 18th term and for

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

in the 19th term (according to Article 84/3 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, his membership ended on 17 August 1993). He served as the Deputy Speaker of the

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and the General Chairman of the People's Labour Party. He graduated from Kirikkale Machinery and Technician School. He is married and has four children.

Life and political career

Işıklar's political career began with his involvement in the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), later leading HEP during its brief existence. Işıklar's political activities focused on advocating for the rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey. He also played a key role in the formation of political alliances with

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

and pro-Kurdish groups. Işıklar became a prominent figure in Turkish politics during the late 1980s. He served as the General Chairman of the People's Labour Party starting in 1990. Under his leadership, the HEP advocated for the recognition of Kurdish rights, alongside a broader progressive agenda. The HEP was dissolved in 1993 by Turkish authorities, amid increasing government pressure on pro-Kurdish movements. Following this, Işıklar continued to be involved in Kurdish politics and has since advocated for cooperation between pro-Kurdish and Turkish nationalist parties, including the HDP and MHP.

Post-political activities

After the dissolution of HEP, Işıklar continued to make political statements and occasionally aligned with other political movements. He has been involved in several discussions regarding the political future of Kurdish activism within Turkey, and he has urged both the HDP and MHP to work together for a more inclusive political environment. His views have earned him a place as a respected figure in Turkish Kurdish politics, despite his departure from the formal political scene.

References

{{Reflist Kurdish politicians People's Labour Party politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians 1941 births Living people