BIRDAL, AKIN

(1948- )

   Akin Birdal is an ethnic Turk from Turkey who has become one of that country's best known advocates of international human rights as well as Kurdish rights. For several years he chaired Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD). On 12 May 1998, he miraculously survived an assassination attempt by shadowy right-wing forces in his office but has never fully recovered. Shortly afterwards, Birdal was sentenced to prison for referring to the rights of the Kurdish people in a public speech he had made in September 1996. He was sentenced under the provisions of Article 312(2) of the Turkish Penal Code for inciting people to hatred and enmity on the basis of class, race, or regional differences. Amnesty International has adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. In recent years he has served in the Turkish parliament as a member of the Democratic Society Party (STP) while continuing to play a prominent role promoting Kurdish rights in Turkey.