----- Original Message ----- From: "STEVE KACZYNSKI" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > (Below are some biographical details available to me of martyrs in the > prison struggle in Turkey, and of Cafer Dereli, the first Death Fast martyr > who was murdered in Holland. Not all the martyrs are listed, as I do not yet > have information about them all. Steve Kaczynski) > > YAZGUL GUDER OZTURK (DHKP-C) > Born January 15, 1972, in Tunceli (in the Kurdish east). Kurdish > nationality, the family are followers of the Alevi branch of Islam. She > became a revolutionary in 1990, working in office of newspaper Mucadele > (Struggle). First imprisoned in 1991, for seven months. On release, was > involved in democratic activities. Arrested again in 1996. Volunteered for > Death Fast in that year but was not selected on that occasion. Became Death > Fast resister in the year 2000. Martyred in Bayrampasa Prison. > > FIRAT TAVUK (DHKP-C) > Born in Manisa, western Turkey, 1971. Joined the revolutionary struggle in > 1994. Imprisoned in 1995. He took part in every form of prison resistance. > Joined the Third Death Fast Team in 1996. In the year 2000, joined First > Death Fast Team. He said that as a Death Fast volunteer, he was ready to > push the resistance on to the end. Martyred in Bayrampasa Prison. After his > death, when his surviving comrades were being marched away by gendarmes, > they shouted out "Comrade Firat is immortal!" in spite of the presence of > their guards. > > ASUR KORKMAZ (DHKP-C) > Born in Istanbul, 1972, Turkish nationality, family Alevis. He became > actively involved with organisation in 1990. First arrested at May Day > demonstration in 1991. Imprisoned for three and a half months. Many of the > people he knew at school became martyrs and this deepened his commitment. He > was involved in organising in the Nurtepe area of Istanbul. After being sent > to prison, he joined the First Death Fast Team. At the ceremony, he declared > that he wanted a revolution to create a People's Republic of Anatolia that > would be like a glowing torch of opposition to imperialism. Martyred in > Bayrampasa Prison. > > BERRIN BICKILAR (DHKP-C) > Born in Izmir, western Turkey, 1978. Turkish nationality, family belong to > Sunni (main) branch of Islam. She came to know revolutionaries in 1994 and > was involved in the high school branch of Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth). > Was imprisoned later that year. Volunteered for 1996 Death Fast but wish was > not granted until the Death Fast of the year 2000, when she joined the First > Death Fast Team. At the ceremony, greeted "the workers and peasants, > students and older labourers, young and old, men and women and all our > people," and embraced "all the peoples of Anatolia, Turk, Kurd, Laz, > Cherkess and Arab." She was badly injured when the December 19 attack was > made on Usak Prison and she was already at an advanced stage of the Death > Fast. She lost consciousness, woke up in hospital to find she had been put > on a serum drip-feed. She disconnected the tube and died. > > HALIL ONDER (DHKP-C) > Born in Osmaniye-Duzici, southern Turkey, in 1970. Joined Dev-Genc at Ankara > University in 1989 while a student of veterinary surgery. Imprisoned in > 1992. Became First Death Fast Team resister in 2000 in Ceyhan Prison. At > the ceremony, he said, "I feel the greatest happiness in being a > revolutionary. We are doing the most beautiful, noble and moral work in the > world. I am proud of this." He was severely wounded by his attackers when > the operation against Ceyhan Prison took place. He refused medical treatment > and was martyred. > > ILKER BABACAN (DHKP-C) > Born in Istanbul in 1978. He came from an impoverished family. Started work > after leaving primary school (going to secondary school is not compulsory in > Turkey and involves the payment of fees - the poor often start work > immediately after finishing primary school). After becoming a revolutionary, > was active in various areas. Imprisoned in 1996. Joined Third Death Fast > Team in Canakkale Prison, saying, "I will not sell my people or my comrades > for a bowl of soup or a container of serum." Martyred in bitter resistance > by prisoners to state's attack on Canakkale Prison. > > ALP ATA AKCAGOZ (DHKP-C) > Born in 1971 in Kars, extreme eastern part of Turkey. He was a sympathiser > of the revolutionary movement and was imprisoned for this. Was martyred in > Umraniye Prison. > > ERCAN POLAT (DHKP-C) > Born in 1974 in Tunceli. Kurdish by nationality, his family are Alevis. From > impoverished background, made a living in workshops manufacturing clothes. > Joined the revolutionary movement in 1995, imprisoned in 1996. Wanted to > join Death Fast in 2000 but was not accepted. Martyred in Umraniye Prison > while fighting heroically against the state's attack. > > SEFINUR TEZGEL (DHKP-C) > Born in Malatya region in 1971, family are Kurdish Alevis. She was > sympathetic to the revolutionaries from childhood, like members of her > family, and the house was often raided by police and gendarmes. She joined > the revolutionary movement in 1992 and the same year was imprisoned for 18 > months. She was again arrested in February 1996 and imprisoned in > Bayrampasa. Experienced 1996 Death Fast in the prison and was profoundly > moved by it. Martyred in state attack on Bayrampasa on December 19, 2000. > > GULSER TUZCU (DHKP-C) > Born in Kastamonu, northern Turkey, in 1966. She was sympathetic to the > revolutionaries from a young age. She joined the revolutionary movement in > 1992, was briefly imprisoned in 1995, was freed and then re-arrested the > same year. She was imprisoned in Bayrampasa and like Sefinur was profoundly > moved by the Death Fast resistance in the prison in 1996, which she wanted > to join. During the December 19 attack, she shouted slogans - her only > weapon - and was martyred. > > SEYHAN DOGAN (DHKP-C) > Born in Samsun, northern Turkey in 1973. Family Turkish by nationality, > Sunni Muslims by religion. She came to Istanbul to study and became > acquainted with revolutionaries in 1991. She joined Dev-Genc. She was > imprisoned in 1995. Experienced the 1996 Death Fast. During the resistance > in 2000, she noted that the prisoners were resisting in order to repel the > attacks of fascism and imperialism. Like other women martyrs in Bayrampasa, > she was burned to death by the fires caused by the projectiles the state > used during the attack. > > YASEMIN CANCI (DHKP-C) > Yasemin was captured in 1992 while fighting as a guerrilla in the mountains > of the Aegean. Before that, she had been active in DEMKAD (Democratic > Women). In 1996 she was in the First Death Fast Team. Later, in 1998, she > was the leader of the DHKP-C prisoners in Buca Prison. Despite the long time > she spent in prison, she never lost hope or belief. Like Berrin, she was > martyred in Usak Prison. > > HASAN GUNGORMEZ (DHKP-C) > He was born on August 28, 1964 in the Konya region (south central Turkey). > He became sympathetic to the revolutionaries at a very young age. He joined > another political movement in 1987. He was imprisoned in 1992 after being > put in prison earlier and managing to escape. After his re-capture he joined > the DHKP-C. When he joined the Death Fast in the year 2000, he declared > himself to be "the happiest human being in the world". He was badly wounded > in the state attack on Cankiri Prison and was martyred nine days later, on > the 70th day of the Death Fast. > > ALI IHSAN OZKAN (TKP(ML)) > First Death Fast Team member in the ranks of the Communist Party of Turkey > (Marxist-Leninist). Born in the Corum region, central Turkey, in 1974. He > was imprisoned in Ankara, and after his trial he was brought to Bursa Prison > where was martyred. Like the other TKP(ML) prisoners on the Death Fast, he > swore to uphold Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. > > M. MURAT ORDEKCI (TKEP-L) > He was born in the Adiyaman region in 1972. He was imprisoned in Bayrampasa > as a prisoner from the Communist Labour Party of Turkey-Leninist, and was > martyred when the state attacked the prisoners in Bayrampasa. The TKEP-L did > not join the Death Fast but they have shown militancy in the prisons and > comradeship with other groups, and Murat's martyrdom shows that they > continued to do so. > > AHMET IBILI (DHKP-C) > Ahmet was born on April 26, 1968 in Mersin province, southern Turkey. He > came into contact with revolutionaries at university. From 1991 onwards he > was part of the revolutionary struggle. He was imprisoned in 1993, released, > and imprisoned again the following year. He was released after five months, > and worked for a time in the central office of the newspaper Mucadele. While > working in the provinces he was arrested on May Day, 1997 and imprisoned. He > continued an honourable struggle in Umraniye Prison until his martyrdom as a > First Death Fast Team resister. On the day of the attack, he was one of the > first to die, though his comrades in Umraniye held out for several more > days. At his Death Fast ceremony, he said, "In this period, the price we > will have to pay will be even greater." > > ALI ATES (DHKP-C) > He was born on February 10, 1970, in Adana, southern Turkey. He started his > revolutionary life at university. He was forced to break off his university > studies. Up until 1995 he was involved in the revolutionary youth movement > in Ankara, and then continued activities in Istanbul. In 1996 he was > imprisoned. Up to the moment of his martyrdom in Bayrampasa Prison, he was > well to the fore in every act of resistance. When he joined the First Death > Fast Team in the prison, he declared that "I feel myself to be ready for a > suicide action or a Death Fast action. I want to do whatever is necessary > for victory." > > FIDAN KALSEN (DHKP-C) > Born on January 1, 1964 in Tunceli. In 1989 she came into contact with > DEMKAD. She was a nurse and worked to organise other health workers. In 1992 > and 1994 she was imprisoned for brief periods. In 1995 she was imprisoned > after she was arrested while going to the funeral of a guerrilla who had > been martyred in Tunceli. She joined the First Death Fast Team in Canakkale > Prison and was martyred on the day of the attack, setting herself on fire > rather than risk having her action interrupted. When her body was found, she > was still giving the victory sign. At her ceremony, she had said she wanted > to follow in the footsteps of the 1984 and 1996 Death Fast martyrs, and she > did. > > MURAT OZDEMIR (DHKP-C) > Born in July 1961 in Istanbul. He belonged to the Cherkess (also known as > Circassian) ethnic group. He finished journalism school. He came to know > revolutionaries before the 1980 military coup. He worked for a variety of > bourgeois newspapers before starting work for the newspaper Mucadele. He was > briefly imprisoned in 1992. He was imprisoned again in 1993. He never > submitted and always kept his honour. He was martyred in Bursa Prison on the > 61st day of the Death Fast, in which he took part on the First Death Fast > Team. At his ceremony, he declared his pride in his ethnic group, calling > himself "a dagger of the Cherkess nation" to be used against the enemy. > > IRFAN ORTAKCI (DHKP-C) > Born in the Corum region on January 1, 1971. He became acquainted with > revolutionaries in 1991. He was imprisoned in 1993 after involvement in the > democratic struggle in Ankara. He joined the First Death Fast Team in > Cankiri Prison, was badly wounded on the day of the attack and was martyred > the next day. On the day of his ceremony he declared his faith in victory. > > CENGIZ CALIKOPARAN (DHKP-C) > Born on September 2, 1968 in Istanbul, into an impoverished family. Became > acquainted with revolutionaries in 1991. He worked as a labourer and > organised among other workers. He was imprisoned in 1994. Cengiz survived > the January 1996 Umraniye massacre, in which four fellow DHKP-C prisoners > were martyred, but he was severely wounded. He was transported to Bayrampasa > Prison and there he was martyred when the state attacked. > > MUSTAFA YILMAZ (DHKP-C) > Born in Ordu province on the Black Sea coast in 1968. With his family, he > moved to Istanbul and took part in resistance in the left-wing Kucukarmutlu > shantytown. From 1991 he was part of the organisation and he worked among > other labourers. He was imprisoned and was martyred in Bayrampasa putting up > heroic resistance to the state assault. > > NILUFER ALCAN (DHKP-C) > Born in Bolu province east of Istanbul in 1964. From 1987 she was part of > the revolutionary struggle. She was detained many times by police while > taking part in the democratic struggle. This never deterred her from > continuing the revolutionary life because for her no other life was possible > or worthwhile. She was imprisoned in Bayrampasa in 1995 and was martyred in > the state assault. > > OZLEM ERCAN (DHKP-C) > Born in Tunceli in 1977. She began to take part in the revolutionary > struggle at Istanbul University. She was imprisoned and experienced the 1996 > Death Fast resistance. On the day of the assault on Bayrampasa, she > distinguished herself by her attempts to protect fellow prisoners who were > on the Death Fast, and she was martyred. > > CAFER DERELI (DHKP-C) > The first Death Fast martyr in the year 2000. He was born in Konya province > in 1978. For economic reasons he had come to Belgium two years earlier, and > after being in another organisation, he had been a DHKP-C supporter for two > months, taking part in a number of protests and demonstrations in that short > period. He joined a solidarity hunger strike in support of the Death Fast > resistance in Rotterdam, Holland, and while doing this, he was martyred > during an attack by Turkish fascist gangs on December 9, 2000. Besides > comrades from Turkey, Belgian revolutionaries also knew Cafer and grieved at > his death. > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________
