Necmettin Büyükkaya also known as Neco (1943–1984) was a prominent

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

activist and cadre of the Revolutionary Cultural Eastern Hearths in

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 ...

who was tortured to death in prison.

Biography

Büyükkaya was born in 1943 in the village of Karahan (Dağbaşı) in the Siverek district of

Şanlıurfa Province Şanlıurfa Province (; ), also known as Urfa Province, is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which be ...

to Kurdish parents and went on to study at the

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Faculty of Law after graduating high school in

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 ...

. During his studies in Istanbul, he became a member of the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

and the Federation of Debate Clubs before becoming a prominent member of the Kurdish movement. He co-founded the Revolutionary Cultural Eastern Hearths together with other Kurdish intellectuals in 1969. After the 1971 military coup, he fled to

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

and became a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party/North. In 1972, he went to

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and then

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

before returning to Turkey in 1975 after

general amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

was declared the previous year. In Turkey he continued his Kurdish activism until the 1980 coup d'état when he was jailed and tortured. On 24 January 1984, Büyükkaya was tortured to death at

Diyarbakır Prison Diyarbakır Prison (; ) is a prison located in Diyarbakır, southeastern Turkey. It was established in 1980 as an E-type prison by the Ministry of Justice. After the September 12, 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the facility was transferred to milita ...

while on a hunger strike. Letters and other writings of Büyükkaya were collected and published in Sweden in 1992 as the book ''"Kalemimden Sayfalar"''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buyukkaya, Necmettin 1943 births 1984 deaths People from Siverek Executed communists Executed Kurdish people Kurdish activists Workers' Party of Turkey politicians Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Prisoners and detainees of Turkey 20th-century Kurdish people