Hüseyin Aygün (born 20 October 1970, Tunceli) is a Turkish lawyer and politician of Alevi Zaza origin. He is a former Member of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

for the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) and a founder of the Tunceli Bar Association.

Education

Hüseyin Aygün worked as a lawyer in his hometown after graduating from the Faculty of Law at Ankara University. After graduating in 1995, he did not pursue an academic career to which had aspired to. He assumed he would be discriminated for being an Alevi Kurd of the political left.

Professional career

In 1998 he returned to Tunceli where he opened a lawyer bureau together with Özgür Ulas Kaplan. He was a co-founder of the Tunceli Bar Association in 2001 and elected its first president. He was a human rights lawyer and defended the numerous Kurds before the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

(ECHR) Besides he established the first newspaper to be published in the

Zazaki language Zaza (endonym: , , , , , or , ) is a Western Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas, who are mostly considered as Kurds, and in many cases identify as such. The language is a part of th ...

. According to his own account he was threatened by the Gendarmerie Commander of Tunceli who accused him to encourage people to file cases before the ECHR.

Political career

He was elected into the

in the Parliamentary Elections of 2011 for the CHP representing the CHP.

Kidnapping

Aygün was kidnapped by PKK militants on 12 August 2012 as he was returning from a visit in

Ovacık, Tunceli Ovacık (, ,) is a municipality (belde) and seat of the Ovacık District in Tunceli Province, Turkey. It is populated by Alevi Kurds of the Abasan tribe and had a population of 3,018 in 2021. Etymology Its name is derived from a small plain b ...

accompanied with a newspaper reporter and his aide. The militants stopped his car on the highway and forced the passengers to get off. His companions were released, while he was abducted. Aygün was freed unharmed on 14 August 2012. He said he was in good health and that he had been treated with respect. "The young fellows who undertook this

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

are children of this country too, and they said they wanted to send a message of peace and a call for a cease-fire with this action." Aygün's statements caused controversy within his CHP party. While hardliner

Metin Feyzioğlu Metin Feyzioğlu (born 7 July 1969) is a Turkish lawyer and a professor of criminal law who served as the 8th president of the Turkish Bars Association between May 2013 and December 2021. Metin Feyzioğlu was appointed as Türkiye's new ambassado ...

criticized him for "approaching a terror organization with sympathy", the party's spokesperson

Haluk Koç Ahmet Haluk Koç (born 3 October 1954) is a Turkish politician who serves as the spokesperson and deputy leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) since 2012. He was a Member of Parliament for Samsun between 2002 and 2015 and serves as an MP ...

stressed that Aygün had made a call for peace.

Controversy in his political party

Aygün made statements about his party's responsibility on the

Dersim Massacre The Dersim massacre, also known as Dersim genocide, was carried out by the Turkish military over the course of three operations in the Dersim Province (renamed Tunceli) against Kurdish rebels of Alevi faith, and civilians in 1937 and 1938. A ...

and later on the status of

Alevism Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differ ...

, causing controversy with his fellow deputies and the party leader

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...

. Due to those statements completely contradicting the policy of his party, some members of CHP requested to expel him from the party. In 2014, Aygün participated in the foundation of the United June Movement, a progressive organization in the wake of the

Gezi protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting ...

. He urged the movement to stay free of turning into a party. Following Aygün's criticisms of fellow CHP lawmakers and mayors, he was cited to his party's Disciplinary Committee in January 2015. Subsequently, he did not seek reelection in the June 2015 general election, where the pro-Kurdish HDP finally won both

Tunceli Province Tunceli Province (), formerly Dersim Province (; ; ), is a province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its central city is Tunceli. The province has a Kurdish majority. Moreover, it is the only province in Turkey with an Alevi majority. ...

's parliamentary seats.

Published works

Aygün is the writer of a number of books, mainly on the Dersim massacre, including the titles ' ("Dersim 1938 and the Forced Resettlement"), ' ("0.0.1938 Formality and Reality"), ' ("Dersim 1938 and the Notebook of Hacı Hıdır Ataç"), ' ("The Brief History of Tagging") and his book in Zazaki language, '.

Personal life

Aygün is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aygun, Huseyin 1970 births 2010s missing person cases 20th-century Turkish lawyers 21st-century Turkish lawyers Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Tunceli Formerly missing people Kidnapped politicians Kidnapped Turkish people Kidnappings in Turkey Living people Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Missing person cases in Turkey People from Tunceli Turkish people of Kurdish descent Zaza Alevis Zaza people