famous hemshinians

[princemishkin]

Dear friends,
I thought you might find it interesting to know about famous hemshinians in Turkey. This is not a scientific work ofcourse; I will just list the ones I know. Join me, so we can have a longer list.

1. Sadrazam Mehmet Paşa. He is the first in the list, not because I love him, but he is the oldest one I know. He was the Sadrazam (Prime minister) of the Ottoman Empire during one of the wars against Russia. Ottoman and British navies bombarded Sebastopol then. He is said to be a very corrupt man

2. Nail karaçam. The third revolutionary martyr of the '68 generation. He was from Tsintsiva village of Çamlıhemşin. He was ambushed by fascists. His name was mentioned in a revolutionary chant.

3. Deniz Gezmiş. Half Hemshinian. One of the most famous marxist guerilla leaders of the '68 generation in Turkey. He was the leader of the Turkish People's Liberation Army. He and his friends robbed some banks, kidnapped american soldiers two times but never killed anybody. He was caught and hanged in 1972. His mother was a Hemshinian from Dzimil.

4. Cihan Alptekin. Another leader of the organization above and a close friend of Deniz Gezmiş. He, together with revolutionaries of another group, Turkish People's Liberation Party/Front kidnapped 3 NATO technicians working in a radar and tried to have Deniz Gezmiş and his two friends freed in return. All of them and the technicians were killed in a military operation. He was from Odze village of Ardeshen.

5. Mesut Yılmaz. Former Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister. He has been accused of corruption but not convicted. He is hated by many Hemshinians and considered as a traitor, for he tried to build a hydroelectrical plant on Furtuna river which runs through Çamlıhemşin. The plant would nearly dry the river. Hemshinians struggled and prevented it. He is from a Hemshinian village in the town Çayeli (Mapavri).

6. Murat karayalçın. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister and Ankara Mayor. He is the leader of a social democrat party and running for mayor again. He is from Tsintsiva village of Çamlıhemşin.

7. Tevfik İleri. A member of Demokrat Parti and Education minister in the fifties. He was put to jail after a military takeover in 1960. He died in jail next year. He was from Gomno village of Hemshin.

8. Numan Okumuş. Football player of Fenerbahçe, the biggest and the greatest and the loveliest team in Turkey

9. Zafer Biryol. Football player. He was transferred to Fenerbahçe but he got injured and couldn't find much chance to play.

There are singers who sing Hemshinian tunes but I am not sure whether they are Hemshinian or not. So, that's all I remember folks.

[princemishkin]

How I forgot:

İsmail Bilen. General secretary of the clandestine Communist Party of Turkey till he died in the early 80's. He was from Mollaveyis village of Çamlıhemşin.

Ziya Hurşit. another Hemshinian politician from Mollaveyis. He tried to assassinate Atatürk, the founder of the turkish Republic. He was hanged. He was the only one atatürk wanted to talk, because he liked him. He asked "Why did you want to kill me Ziya?" and he just said "I was angry."

Niyazi Memişoğlu. A member of the first parliament during what is called the "liberation war", the war against the invading Greek army. It was the parliament of the resistance movement, and the founding parliament of the republic. He was from Tsintsiva village of Çamlıhemşin.

[avetik]

princemishkin, thanks for the info... I think on "our side" we don't have nearly as many famous Hamshenians, probably due to struggles with integration into society, agricultural nature of business and, last but not least, living in a paradise of the land -- south Russia and Abkhazia.

[princemishkin]

it" ok avetik,
these are your famous ones aswell

[avetik]

princemishkin, my firend, bravo! abris!

[hagop]

Thank you Princemishkin for the information. Some of that was new to me. Did you get these from family and friends? Also, do you or others know if Koksal Toptan is Hemshinli or Horum?

The cases of Sadrazam Mehmet Pasha and Mesut Yilmaz are very interesting. Both of them became prime ministers. In both cases they had a family and supporters behind them who were very much involved the state politics of the time. Mehmet Pasha appears to have made many connections, including with the emperor Sultan Mahmut II and he in fact married his daughter. He became the minister of the navy and prime minister a few times in his carrier. It seems that his brother was also a pasha and married another princess.

Mesut Yilmaz's uncle Yusuf Akcal was a prominent figure in Democrat party and was a minister. The family's influence continued in the Justice party that followed the Democrat party. Mesut's cousin Erol Yilmaz Akcal was also a parliamentarian. It is a little known fact that many of the parliamentarians from Rize in republican times have been Hemshinli. I believe Mesut Yilmaz's grandfather alone was a Hemshinli from Gaghunch (Cataldere) and not his other grandparents.

There are many Hemshinli businesmen but I know only a few names. One of them, Osman Kavran, was very well known in entertainment business when the entertainment business was small in Turkey in 1960s and 70s. There are also some artists, educators, doctors etc. who are not much is heard about.

[Lidulit]

Hayati Yazıcı (b. May 23, 1952 in Çayeli Buzlupinar, Rize Province) is a Turkish lawyer and politician. He is currently one of the deputy prime ministers of Turkey
Hayati Yazıcı graduated 1975 from the School of Law at Istanbul University and served as judge in several towns. In 1984, he quit his post to begin a career as freelance lawyer.
A co-founder of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), he is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lawyer and vice-chairman of the AKP. Hayati Yazıcı entered the parliament in 2007 as deputy of Istanbul Province, and was appointed List of Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for the coordination between the government and the parliament.
Hayati Yazıcı is married and father of two children.

[princemishkin]

I have posted a message but I can't see it here. I don't feel like I can rewrite it. Very Summarily, yes Hagop, from family and readings.

Ali Başpınar. A member of the central committee of Dev-Yol (Revolutionary Path), the biggest marxist revolutionary organisation till the military takeover in 1980. He was a Hemshinian. He died of cancer a few months ago.

I had written two funny stories. But I won't write them again. You should build a better forum.

[artem]

Dear friends,
Who from famous singers have Hamshenian origin? Does anybody have such an information?

[avetik]

princemishkin, I accept your criticism for the quality of the forum, however I'm grateful for what we have
time after time I experience problems with posts as well, but before posting I I try to copy to clipboard.
just in case

[Hay]

I have noticed that many of the Hamshetsi famous people are left-wing, socialists or communists
I think in Artvin, left-wing Hamshetsi accept themselves as a people with Armenian origins, while right-wing Hamshetsi think that they are of Turkish origins. It's interesting how political opinions influence historical perceptions. Gerçekten ilginçtir.

[avetik]

Hay, I think this is an issue related to integration into the society.

The more "comfortable" one feels with the existing state government, the more reluctant he will be to display any opposition.

We often compare Rize and Hopa Hemshinli, noticing that adaption of Turkish and loss of Armenian was a much faster process for Rise than Hopali (I think Hopa Hemshinli are undergoing same process but on much slower pace). But if I compare Hamshetsi Armenians on the other side of the sea and compare those who lived in Russian Federation vs. Abkhazia -- one can see a great deal of similarity.

Residents of Russia tend to assimilate at much faster rate than Abkhazia due to difference in integration: Abkhazia had less opportunities for career growth, yet more natural beauty and seclusion...

No wonder during Soviet times Abkhazia had 57 Armenian language schools, while Russia maybe just a few...

[princemishkin]

I think you are right avetik. In Ottoman times being a sunni muslim would make you a first class citizen. If you are a first class citizen, you hurry to integrate.

And Hagop, it was İzzet Akçal. (Yusuf İzzet maybe?)

[hagop]

Sami Kiziltan from Ardeshen is another Hemshinli with a revolutionary background.

Artem, I believe I read Gokhan Birben saying he is Hemshinli. Most of the Vova group is also Hemshinli.

Pricemishkin, I too think Yusuf Izzet Akcal is the more complete name.