The 75-year-old Fırat died in the intensive care unit of Güven Hospital in Ankara, where he was taken early this week. As his son, Abdulkadir Fırat, previously told reporters Fırat's doctors said that Fırat's lungs had lost 60 percent of their function. In addition to leukemia, Fırat also suffered a diabetic coma in June, which caused serious brain damage.
About Abdülmelik Fırat
A grandson of the Kurdish rebel leader Sheikh Said, Fırat's family history is full of persecution, exile and executions. A revered sheikh of the Nakshibendi sufi order and originally from Diyarbakır, Sheikh Said was captured in 1925 and hanged with many other rebel leaders. His family members were sent into exile and were given the last name "Fırat" (“Euphrates”).
With Turkey's transition to a multi-party regime, Fırat became a deputy from the Democrat Party (DP) in 1957 and was sent to prison following the May 27, 1960 military coup d'état, which resulted in the execution of the prime minister and two other ministers. Fırat was also sentenced to execution, but his sentence was later commuted to imprisonment.
In 1991, he entered politics under the True Path Party (DYP), but subsequently left the party because he did not agree with its policies toward Kurds. He was sent to prison again for two months on charges of helping the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
A harsh critic of the PKK, he remained on the political scene and finally established the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) in 2001. He left three years ago because of health problems and handed over the post of his party's presidency to Sertaç Bucak. Fırat also lent his support for the government's recent democratic initiative to settle Turkey's long-standing Kurdish issue.
