Haydar Baş (28 January 1947 – 14 April 2020) was a Turkish politician and businessman. He was one of the founders of the Independent Turkey Party and served as the party's leader until his death. He was also the owner of various media organizations such as Meltem TV, Mesaj TV and ''Öğüt'', ''Mesaj'', ''İcmal'' magazines together with ''Yeni Mesaj'' newspaper. He died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

at a hospital in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

on 14 April 2020.

Education

Baş completed his primary, secondary and high school education in

. He graduated from Kayseri Supreme Islamic Institute in 1970. Later, he received his postgraduate education, doctorate and the title of "professor" from

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) (BDU; ) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established on 1 September 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and philology, physics ...

. He later worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Eastern Languages and Literature Research at Baku State University.

Political career

Baş began his tenure in politics in 1970 by joining the

National Salvation Party The National Salvation Party (, MSP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey, founded on 11 October 1972 as the successor of the banned National Order Party (''Millî Nizam Partisi'', MNP). The party was formed by a core group of working cadres ...

, but his time in the party was short-lived. Therein the leader of the National Salvation Party,

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...

, drove Baş away from the party as the two had contradictory views. In the following years, he stayed away from the parties led by Erbakan. His interest in politics always continued, and he supported the

True Path Party The True Path Party (, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously led the Justice Part ...

in the 1994 elections.

Independent Turkey Party

On 25 September 2001, Baş founded the Independent Turkey Party which he continued to lead until his death. He became a recognized name in politics in the 2007 elections, thanks to his party's slogan. At a rally held in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

's Tandoğan square, the sentence "We want jobs, we want food, we want Haydar Baş in Ankara in this election ()", which was written on a farmer's banner, inspired them to use the slogan "Work, food, this time Haydar Baş ()" which made the party known among the people. In the 2011 general elections, he was an MP nominee from the Democratic Party. In the 2015 elections, he promised to "come upon 500 trillion with the national economy model and provide a onthlysalary of 500 for everyone". In the

2017 Turkish constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 16 April 2017 on whether to approve 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution that were brought forward by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movemen ...

his party voted "no", and they did not participate in the June 2018 election.

Forgery of documents

In 2018, upon the complaint of doctor Mustafa Eraslan and his wife Meral Eraslan, a lawsuit was filed against him on the charges of "forcibly passing over someone else's property, attempting to plunder, and forgery of official documents" and his assets were also confiscated. In its decision of 16 October 2019, the Bakırköy 15th High Criminal Court sentenced Baş to two years and six months of imprisonment for forging documents, but he was acquitted of other charges.

Criticism

Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, also known as Cübbeli Ahmet, criticized Baş for relying on

Shiite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s but not the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

ones in his religious analyses. Ünlü mentioned Baş's claim that

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

attacked

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's daughter

Fatimah Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and ...

at her house and caused her miscarriage was a Shiite view and had no place in Sunni traditions.

Death

In his hometown, Trabzon, eight of his family members tested positive for

amid the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 9 April, he started receiving treatment in a private hospital in the Akçaabat district. After receiving treatment for four days in the private hospital, he was taken to the intensive care unit as he needed respiratory support. He was transferred to the Kanuni Education and Research Hospital on 13 April. Baş died due to complications from COVID-19 on 14 April 2020. He was 73. The funeral prayer for Baş was performed on the Trabzon Coast Road Side Yeni Mahalle Fair Area in Yenimahalle, in the Ortahisar district of Trabzon on 15 April. His son Osman Baş performed the funeral prayer. He was buried in the Martyrdom Hill in Akçaabat district. Trabzon Governor İsmail Ustaoğlu, Trabzon Police Chief Metin Alper, Trabzon Metropolitan Mayor Murat Zorluoğlu, Akçabat Mayor Osman Nuri Ekim and Ortahisar Mayor Ahmet Metin Genç attended the funeral prayer. After his death, his son Hüseyin Baş succeeded to the party's leadership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baş, Haydar 1947 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey Turkish mass media people Leaders of political parties in Turkey 21st-century Turkish politicians Politicians from Trabzon Turkish political party founders Baku State University alumni Academic staff of Baku State University