Inna lilla wa inna ilayhi rajioun

IHRC is saddened to hear of the death of Mehmet Ali Tekin.  He died of a heart attack in Istanbul today. 

Tekin was a journalist and an editor at Selam newspaper in Istanbul during the 1990s and 2000s when the paper faced intense pressure from the authorities, particularly after the 1997 soft coup.  Many of the journalists faced prison and torture, including at different times Mehmet Ali. 

Tekin was one of the many prisoners of faith that IHRC campaigners advocated for. He was a contemporary and friend of the young activist Metin Yüksel, who was assassinated in 1979 at the age of 20.  In 1995 he was held in a Russian prison for a year when they caught him at the Chechen border. He was also held in prison in Turkey for five years (2000-2005) due to his strong criticism against the 1997 coup.

Words cannot do justice to the immense contribution Tekin gave to the struggles for justice not simply in Turkey but elsewhere.  He was a veteran of the liberation struggles in Bosnia and Chechnya, and many of his articles and books covered his experiences in those times.

We pray that Allah swt grants his family patience and grants Mehmet Ali eternal peace and happiness. Fatiha.