Metin Yüksel (July 17, 1958 – February 23, 1979) was a Kurdish-Turkish political and social Islamist activist. One of the main leaders of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
's Islamic movement during the 1970s, he also was a member of the Raiders Organization.
Bitlis
Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Kurdish family's religious devotion, a characteristic that Yüksel would carry with him throughout his short life. His father, Sadreddin Yüksel, born in
Konya
Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
was a well-known religious scholar, famous amongst Turkey's religious people. His brother, Edip Yüksel, is US-based lawyer who has become known for converting to
Quranism
Quranism () is an Islamic schools and branches, Islamic movement that holds the belief that the Quran is the only valid source of religious belief, guidance, and law in Islam. Quranists believe that the Quran is clear, complete, and that it ca ...
and advocating Rashad Khalifa's teachings (for which he was rejected by Metin and called a murtad by their father).
activism
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...
at an early age. Inspired by the ideas of his father and others, Yüksel quickly became active in the burgeoning Islamist movements that emerged in the early 1950s, following the onset of the multi-party period in 1945.
Assassination
On February 23, 1979, Yüksel was shot and killed in the courtyard of
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 ...
's Fatih Mosque by Grey Wolves loyal to the MHP after getting into a short-term verbal argument with a group of
Idealists
Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is enti ...
who had threatened him. He was 20 years old.
Legacy
Following his
assassination
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
, Yüksel became a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
among Turkey's Islamist factions. His assassination led supporters to declare February as ''Şehit'' ("Martyr") month.
Every year on the anniversary of his death, supporters make pilgrimage to the spot where he was assassinated, in the yard of Fatih Mosque. It is common for them to hoist banners remembering him and paint red the spot where he fell.
References
See also
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List of assassinated people from Turkey
The following is an incomplete, chronological list of people from Turkey murdered by assassins mainly on political and religious grounds. Many were critical public servants and intellectuals assassinated by far-right proponents of an army-control ...