Yusuf Halaçoğlu
| Yusuf Halaçoğlu MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
|
Assumed office 12 June 2011 | |
| Constituency | Kayseri (2011, June 2015, Nov 2015) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 10, 1949 Kozan, Adana Province, Turkey |
| Political party | Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) |
| Alma mater | Istanbul University |
| Occupation | Politician, Academic |
| Profession | Historian |
Yusuf Halaçoğlu (born 10 May 1949, in Kozan, Adana) is a Turkish historian and politician. He is a former president of the Turkish Historical Society and is currently a member of the Turkish Parliament representing the electoral district of Kayseri for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
He studied history at Istanbul University and pursued an academic career at the same university after graduating in 1974. In 1983, he became an assistant professor. Halaçoğlu entered Marmara University in 1986, and in 1989 he was appointed a professor. After serving in leading positions at the Turkish State Archives, he returned to the university in 1992. From 1993 on, he served as the chairman of the Turkish Historical Society until his dismissal in 2008. He then returned to his chair at Gazi University.
In the 2011 general election, Halaçoğlu was elected into parliament, and was reelected in June and November 2015. In November 2015, the MHP nominated him for Parliamentary Speaker, where he finished on fourth place.
Views
Halaçoğlu is a well-known denier of the Armenian Genocide and has authored several works that mitigate the suffering the Armenians underwent. He places the number of deaths during the deportations (which he calls "forced relocations") at no higher than 9,000-10,000 (as opposed to the more widely accepted figure of 1,000,000 to 1,500,000).[1] His views closely parallel the official Turkish state thesis that the massacres and death marches did not constitute genocide. His research has been criticized by such scholars as Taner Akçam.[2] In 2008 Halaçoğlu was dismissed from his post as the head of the Turkish Historical Society for his controversial claims about Armenians and Kurds.[3]
References
- ↑ See, for example, Yusuf Halaçoğlu, "Realities Behind Relocation," in Armenians in the Late Ottoman Period, ed. Türkkaya Ataöv. Ankara: Turkish Historical Society, 2001, pp. 109-42, figure on p. 140.
- ↑ Akçam, Taner, The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 354-56.
- ↑ "Controversial historian dismissed from office". Hurriyet. 24 July 2008.
External links
- Tribes of Anatolia, about the author (in Turkish)
- Grand National Assembly of Turkey, list of deputies (in Turkish)
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