Dursun Karataş

Dursun Karataş (March 25, 1952, Elazığ—August 11, 2008, Netherlands[1]) was the founding leader of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) in Turkey.

Karataş founded Dev-Sol (Revolutionary Left, precursor of DHKP-C) in 1978,[2] as an offshoot of the Turkish People's Liberation Party/Front.[3] The group was based in Istanbul.[4]

Karataş was jailed after the 1980 military coup. In prison a political reorganisation was undertaken. The Dev-Sol inmates at Bayrampaşa prison refused to follow orders and boycotted court invitations. In prison Karataş wrote "Haklıyız Kazanacağız" ("We Are Right, We Shall Prevail"); a work which included an analysis of the movement's mistakes, and a list of the organization's enemies. It was published in two volumes in 1989, spanning more than 1000 pages.[4][5]

He escaped from prison in 1989,[6] allegedly under the protection of retired general Veli Küçük, who has been detained for involvement in the Ergenekon case.[7] After escaping from jail, he went into exile in Europe.[3] In 1989-1990 Dev-Sol carried out a series of attacks. However, on July 12, 1991, Turkish police was able to dismantle several cells of the organization. Karataş fled to Europe. In April 1992 his wife Sahabat was killed by the Turkish police.[4]

Following the police crackdown on Dev-Sol, Karataş was kidnapped and detained by the second-in-command of the movement, Bedri Yağan, on September 13, 1993. Karataş did however escape from captivity, and Dev-Sol was divided. Karataş and his followers reorganized their movement as DHKP-C.[4][3]

On September 9, 1994 he was arrested at the Franco-Italian border, and sentenced to four years in prison.[8] In 2006 a Belgian court sentenced him in absentia.[9]

The Ankara 9th administrative court ruled in February 2007 that Turkey should pay an YTL 1,000 compensation to Karataş, who was tried in absentia for 27 years, for membership in an outlawed organization and the unauthorized possession of guns and fake documents. The judges' decision stated that: "The Karataş trial process started at the Ordu Martial Law Court in 1981 and has not been concluded since then. We have decided that Turkey should pay compensation to Karataş for such a lengthy trial process." [10]

Karataş died on August 11, 2008 at the Rijnstate hospital in Arnhem, Netherlands.[11] (Some sources initially reported him as having died in Belgium,[12] however the spokesperson of the organization in Brussels, Bahar Kimyongür, said that Karataş' friends gathered to pay their respects in the Netherlands.[13]) He lies in the Gazi Cemevi of Istanbul.[14] According to columnist Ekrem Dumanli, the leader of the prominently Alevi DHKP-C organization revealed itself to be a Sunni Muslim: Karataş was buried in the Gazi district of Istanbul after a ceremony at a local cemevi (an Alevi house of worship) and a funeral prayer at a local mosque.[15][16] Five thousand people attended his funeral procession.[17]

Footnotes

References

  1. ^ "DHKP-C lideri Dursun Karataş öldü" (in Turkish). Radikal. 2008-08-13. http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=HaberDetay&ArticleID=893350&Date=13.08.2008&CategoryID=97. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  2. ^ Chasdi, Richard J. Tapestry of terror : a portrait of Middle East terrorism, 1994-1999. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2002. p. 230-231
  3. ^ a b c Kushner, Harvey W. Encyclopedia of Terrorism. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. p. 315
  4. ^ a b c d Teymur, Samih An Analysis of Terrorist Recruitment by Observing the DHKP/C Terrorist Organization in IstanbulPDF University of North Texas (Criminal Justice) August 2004
  5. ^ Alexander, Yonah/Pluchinsky Alexander, Dennis A. Europe's red terrorists: Fighting communist organizations. London: Cass, 1992. p. 39-40
  6. ^ Orttung, Robert W./Makarychev A. S.. National counter-terrorism strategies legal, institutional, and public policy dimensions in the US, UK, France, Turkey and Russia Publisher: Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2006. p. 156.
  7. ^ "Karataş dies in Netherlands; DHKP/C in disarray". Zaman. 2008-08-13. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=150076. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
  8. ^ "France: Turkish movement leader sentenced to four-year imprisonment in Paris". Agence France-Presse. BBC News. 1997-02-06. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F99F521A46687F3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. 
  9. ^ "Belgium sentences members of Turkish terror group to prison". NTV-MSNBC. 2008-08-14. http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/390222.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  10. ^ Gökçer Tahincioğlu, Extreme left group leader to receive compensation for lengthy trial, Today's Zaman, 21 February 2008 (English)
  11. ^ "DHKP-C leader dies in Netherlands," Hurriyet (12 August 2008). Retrieved on 2008-08-12.
  12. ^ "Dursun Karataş passes away," Sabah (12 August 2008). Retrieved on 2008-08-12.
  13. ^ Sertac Aktan (Arnhem); Ramazan Cin (Istanbul) (2008-08-12). "DHKP-C'nin lideri Dursun Karataş öldü" (in Turkish). Ihlas News Agency. http://www.iha.com.tr/haber/guncel/31615-H-11/DHKP-Cnin-lideri-Dursun-Karatas-oldu. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  14. ^ "Karataş'ın cenazesi ailesine verilmedi" (in Turkish). Anadolu Ajansi (Hürriyet). 2008-08-14. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=9664670. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  15. ^ DHKP/C leader buried, another lead figure caught in Greek Cyprus, Today's Zaman, 16 August 2008
  16. ^ Ekrem Dumanli, Stopping Alevi-Sunni tension, Today's Zaman, 19 August 2008
  17. ^ "Dursun Karataş'ın yüzünü açtılar" (in Turkish). Radikal. 2008-08-15. http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=Detay&ArticleID=893801&Date=16.08.2008&CategoryID=77. Retrieved 2008-08-15. 
  18. ^ "We have lost our Commander, our Leader, our Uncle". DHKP-C. 2008-08-11. http://www.dhkc.org/www/en/news.php?h_newsid=596. Retrieved 2008-08-14.  (tr: Komutanımız Önderimiz Dayımızı Yitirdik)