Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu (December 31, 1954 – March 25, 2009) was a Turkish politician and member of the Parliament of Turkey. He was the leader and founder of the Great Union Party (BBP), a far-right, nationalist-Islamist political party.[1][2]

Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu
1st Leader of Great Union Party
In office
29 January 1993 – 25 March 2009
Succeeded byYalçın Topçu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office
22 July 2007 – 25 March 2009
In office
20 October 1991 – 18 April 1999
ConstituencySivas (1991, 1995, 2007)
Personal details
Born(1954-12-31)December 31, 1954
Şarkışla, Sivas Province, Turkey
DiedMarch 25, 2009(2009-03-25) (aged 54)
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey
Political partyNationalist Movement Party (1977–1980)

Nationalist Task Party (1987–1993)

Great Unity Party (1993–2009)
SpouseGülefer Yazıcıoğlu
Signature

Biography

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Yazıcıoğlu was born 1954 in a small village named Elmalı in Şarkışla of Sivas Province. He studied in Şarkışla from primary school to high school after that he was educated at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ankara University. He was a member of the ultranationalist Grey Wolves. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, Yazıcıoğlu was arrested for being one of the leaders of Grey Wolves. He stayed for seven years in prison until his release in 1987. In the following years, Yazıcıoğlu was involved in politics as a member of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party. In 1991, he and some of his fellows left this movement and established a new political party called Great Union Party with a more Islamist ideology.

His party has been represented in the Parliament only via electoral coalitions with popular parties. At the 2002 legislative elections, the party won 1.1% of the popular vote and no seats; in the 2007 elections Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu was elected as an independent.

Death

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Yazıcıoğlu died on March 25, 2009, in a helicopter crash[1][2] in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, after a political rally there on the way to the next rally in Yozgat just four days before the local elections. The pilot and three other passengers also died in the accident. After the crash, Ismail Güneş who was one of the passengers, called the Turkish emergency service number 112 and was able to talk to the dispatcher clearly.[3]

Yazıcıoğlu received a state funeral to which most of the party leaders attended.[4] Thousands of people joined his funeral ceremony in Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara. After his death, in the 2009 local elections the BBP's candidate was elected as the new mayor of Sivas.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Turkey's Grand Unity Party leader Muhsin Yazicioglu feared dead in helicopter crash". The Australian. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-03-27.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Turkey's BBP confirms Yazicioglu also died in copter crash". WB News Desk. World Bulletin. 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2009-03-28.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "İsmail Güneş'in son sözleri: Ölmek üzereyim..." Sabah.com.tr. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  4. ^ Backes, Uwe; Moreau, Patrick (2012). Die völkisch-religiöse Bewegung im Nationalsozialismus: eine Beziehungs- und Konfliktgeschichte. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 9783525369227.
  5. ^ "SİVAS SEÇİM SONUÇLARI". secim.haberler.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
Party political offices
Preceded by
founder
Leader of the Great Union Party (BBP)
Jan 29, 1993–Mar 25, 2009
Succeeded by