Yusuf Ziya Bey or officially Yusuf Ziya Koçoğlu[2] (born 1882 in Adilcevaz - 14 June 1925 in Bitlis),[3] was a Kurdish nationalist,[4] politician and one of the first members of the Turkish Parliament.[5]
Yusuf Ziya Bey | |
---|---|
Yusuf Ziya Koçoğlu or Koçzade[1] | |
Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey | |
In office 23 October 1923 - 2 August 1924 | |
Succeeded by | Fethi Okyar |
Personal details | |
Born | Yusuf Ziya Koçoğlu 1882 Adilcevaz, Bitlis vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
Died | 14 April 1925 Bitlis, Turkey |
Political party | Republican People's Party (1923-1924) Azadî (1924-1925) |
Children | One |
Education | Bitlis State University |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Ottoman Empire (1910-1920) Ankara Gouverment (1920-1923) Turkish State (1923-1924) Kurdish rebels (1924-1925) |
Battles/wars | Balkan Wars First World War Turkish War of Independence Beytussebab rebellion |
Early life
Ziya Bey was born in Adilcevaz at eastern Anatolia formely Bitlis vilayet region, as the son of Koçzade Hacı Ömer Suat Ağas.[6] When he graduated from Sultani, a type of high school in Bitlis, he started studying economics.[6] For a while he worked as a clerk in education administration and then began his political career in the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan.[7]
Political Career
On August 16, 1920, he won the election to the first Grand National Assembly as a member of Parliament from Bitlis.[2] On October 25, 1920, he was appointed a member of the Independence Court (İstiklal Mahkemesi) in Kastamonu.[2]
After founding the Society for the Defense of Rights (Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti), he took a seat in the Second Group, which was an anti-Atatürk faction.[8] This group spoke out against the abolition of the Sultanate in Parliament.[2] In the background of the talks on the Lausanne Treaty, Yusuf Ziya Bey advocated that the Vilayet of Mosul should remain part of Turkey (Mosul question).[7]
After his term as a member of parliament ended, he returned to Bitlis.[8] But he was suspected of inciting the Nestorian uprising of 1924 and of being a leading member of the Kurdish organization Azadî.[8][9]
During the Beytussebab rebellion, soldiers deserted, including his brother Lieutenant Ali Rıza Bey.[10] This led to the arrest of Yusuf Ziya Bey on October 10th.[10] He was convicted at the court martial in Bitlis under the direction of Colonel Ferit Bey.[11][12]
Convicted under the Law of Treason to the Nation (Hıyanet-i Vataniye Kanunu), he was arrested a day before the suppression of the Sheikh Said rebellion at 5:30 a.m.[12][13] As a result of the trial held at the Bitlis War Court, Yusuf Ziya Bey and the other defendants, whose crimes were proven with evidence, were sentenced to death penalty.[7][13] This sentence was carried out in Bitlis on the morning of June 14, 1925. Yusuf Ziya Bey was married and had a child. Since he died before the surname law, his family later took the surname "Koçoğlu". However, it is recorded in the Pension Registry file that his surname is "Bor".[2]
References
Further reading
- Türk Parlamento Tarihi Millî Mücadele ve T.B.M.M. I.Dönem 1919–1923, II. Cilt (History of the Turkish Parliament, the national resistance and the first period of the TBMM 1919–1923. Volume 2), Publish: TBMM Basımevi Müdürlüğü, Ankara
- Türk Parlamento tarihi Araştırma Grubu, Türk Parlamento Tarihi, Millî Mücadele ve TBMM I. Dönem 1919–1923, III. Cilt: I. Dönem Milletvekillerinin Özgeçmişleri (History of the Turkish Parliament, the national resistance and the first period of the TBMM 1919–1923. Volume 3: Biographies of the members of the first legislative period). Publish: TBMM Basımevi Müdürlüğü, Ankara
- TBMM Albümü: 1. Cilt - 1920–1950, information about Yusuf Ziya Bey on page 42 (turkish)