Former TİP MP Tarık Ziya Ekinci passes away

Tarık Ziya Ekinci, a former Diyarbakır MP for the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), as well as a doctor, author, historian, and politician, has passed away.

The Istanbul Medical Chamber announced the death of Ekinci, who died at the age of 99, with the following statement: "We have learned with great sadness of the passing of our esteemed member, Dr. Tarık Ziya Ekinci, who was born in the Lice district of Diyarbakır in 1925, graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1949, and was an internal medicine specialist, politician, author, and human rights defender.

We share the deep sorrow of the family and loved ones of our esteemed colleague, who was elected as an MP from the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) in the 1965 elections and previously served as the President of the Diyarbakır-Mardin-Siirt Medical Chamber and as a member of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) High Honor Board, and we extend our condolences to the entire medical community and his loved ones."

Our Painful Loss

We have learned with great sadness of the passing of our esteemed member, Dr. Tarık Ziya Ekinci, who was born in the Lice district of Diyarbakır in 1925, graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1949, and was an internal medicine specialist, politician, author, and human rights defender… pic.twitter.com/7ebKXeDHC9

— Istanbul Medical Chamber (@istabip) August 15, 2024

WHO IS TARIK ZİYA EKİNCİ?

He was a graduate of the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine. He completed his specialization at the Paris Faculty of Medicine. He was an internal medicine specialist. He served as a malaria control physician in Siverek, chief physician of the Diyarbakır Central Municipality, government physician in Lice, president of the Diyarbakır, Mardin, and Siirt Medical Chambers, board member of the Diyarbakır Red Crescent and Anti-Tuberculosis Associations, founder and administrator of the Socialist Culture Association, and worked as a private physician, author, and served as a member of the 2nd (XIII) Term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for Diyarbakır.

During the March 12 coup, he was sentenced to three years in prison under Article 142/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) on charges of "Kurdish propaganda" in the Diyarbakır Martial Law Prison, where he remained detained for two years.

ENTERED PARLIAMENT IN 1965

In the 1965 elections, TİP managed to send 15 MPs to the TBMM, reaching a vote share of 2.97 percent with a total of 276 thousand 101 votes in 54 provinces.

These individuals were Mehmet Ali Aybar, Rıza Kuas, Muzaffer Karan, Sadun Aren, Yahya Kanbolat, Cemal Hakkı Selek, Adil Kurtel, Behice Boran, Yunus Koçak, Şaban Erik, Yusuf Ziya Bahadınlı, Ali Karcı, Kemal Nebioğlu, Çetin Altan, and Tarık Ziya Ekinci.

With the death of Tarık Ziya Ekinci, Yusuf Ziya Bahadınlı remains the only surviving member of the 15 TİP MPs.

News Source: 12punto