Mihri Belli
| Mihri Belli | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | December, 1915 Silivri, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | August 16, 2011 Istanbul |
| Cause of death | Respiratory distress |
| Resting place | Feriköy Cemetery, Istanbul |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Education | Economics |
| Alma mater | Robert College, University of Mississippi |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | his thesis "National Democratic Revolution" |
| Political party |
Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), Workers Party of Turkey (TİP), Labour Party of Turkey (TEP) Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) Workers' Socialist Party (İSP) |
Mihri Belli (December 1915 – 16 August 2011) was a prominent leader of the socialist movement in Turkey. He was legendary for having fought on the partisan side in the Greek Civil War.
Belli was repeatedly prosecuted and sentenced to prison for his political views, and was altogether imprisoned for 11 years, and forced into exile for another 18.
Belli wrote several influential books on the Turkish left and was, for many years, a source of inspiration for leftist Turkish youths.
Belli was born in 1916 in Silivri, then in the Ottoman Empire, to Mahmut Hayrettin Bey, later a prominent leader of the Turkish War of Independence in Urfa.
He was educated at Robert College in Istanbul, and in 1936 went on to study economics at the University of Mississippi in the United States. There he was introduced to Marxist thought and revolutionary action. He took part in the activities of the civil rights movement in Mississippi.
Belli returned to Turkey in 1940, where he joined the illegal Communist Party of Turkey (TKP).
Turkey was at the time under a one-party regime. The government, under the influence of the German advances in the initial years of World War II, had abandoned its policy of friendship with the USSR. The only opposition party in Turkey in these days was the underground TKP. Belli, after returning to Turkey, contacted the illegal party via his elementary-school friend David Nea, who was the party secretary for Istanbul at the time. Belli became a member of the central committee of the TKP in 1942.
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Wikipedia