Zübeyir Aydar

Zübeyir Aydar (born 1961, in Eruh) is a Kurdish politician, lawyer and president of the Kongra-Gel (People's Congress of Kurdistan), which is the parliament of the Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK), making him the de jure political leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[1][2][3]

Zübeyir Aydar
Assembly Member
for Siirt
In office
1991–1994
President of Kongra-Gel
Assumed office
2003
Personal details
Born1961
Siirt, Turkey
Political partyPeople's Labor Party (1991-1993)

Democracy Party (1993-1994)

Member of Kurdish National Congress / Kurdish Kongra Gel (1995-Present)
Alma materIstanbul University
ProfessionPolitician, Lawyer

Biography

Born in Yanıkses village in the Eruh District of Siirt Province,[4] he graduated from the Law Faculty of Istanbul University after which he worked as a lawyer in Siirt from 1986 to 1991. There he organized the local branch of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and joined the first Kurdish party in Turkey, the People's Labor Party (HEP). He was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1991 on a ticket with the Social Democratic Populist Party for the Siirt province.[5] When HEP was banned in 1993, he joined the new Kurdish party, the Democracy Party (DEP). When DEP was banned in 1994, Aydar fled to Belgium[6] as most party members were arrested by Turkish authorities. He has been living in Brussels since then.[6] In Europe he joined the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile (PKDW) and later the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) and Kurdistan Union of Communities (KCK), where he became head of the legislature in 2003.[7]

He is wanted in Turkey for being "member of an illegal political party" and since October 14, 2009 wanted by the U.S. for alleged "narcotics trafficking", along with Murat Karayılan and Ali Riza Altun.[8]

In June 2010, Belgian authorities arrested Aydar along with Remzi Kartal, Adem Uzun and Faruk Doru for involvement with financial transactions to PKK accounts. Several academic and political figures in Europe protested the arrest as counter-productive to finding a political solution for the Kurdish movement. After three weeks, Aydar and his co-defendants were released on lack of evidence.[9]

References
  1. "Aydar roept op tot eenheid KKK, PUK, KDP". Azady. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. "Zübeyir Aydar: 'Military operations are going to begin'". Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
  3. "2 terrorists caught, 1 killed in armed clash in northern Turkey". Today's Zaman. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. TBMM albümü: cilt. 1983-2010 (in Turkish). TBMM Basın ve Halkla Ilişkiler Müdürlüğü Bakanlıklar. 2010. p. 1289.
  5. Şafak, Yeni (2020-03-13). "Siirt Seçim Sonuçları 1991 - Genel Seçim 1991". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  6. Jonathan Syper (3 August 2014). "Behind The Lines: Kurdistan emerges". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Treasury Designates Three Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  9. Eccarius-Kelly, Vera (2011). The Militant Kurds. ISBN 9780313364686. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
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