IZMIR - The body of deceased Peace Group member Ali Şükran Aktaş was sent from Izmir to Meleti to be buried.
Second Peace Group member Ali Şükran Aktaş, who came to Turkey from Europe on October 29, 1999, lost his life yesterday in Izmir, where he was receiving cancer treatment. Aktaş's body was taken to Zeytin Alan Cemevi in Urla district of Izmir. Aktaş's body, which was taken from the cemevi today, was sent off to his hometown Meleti (Malatya) to be buried. The farewell ceremony at the cemevi was attended by Second Peace Group member Haydar Ergül, Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) deputies İbrahim Akın and Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, Peace Foundation Chair Hakan Tahmaz, DEM Party provincial and district organizations and loved ones.
Aktaş's body was collected from here by his family and sent to Meleti by air for burial. The family was accompanied by Haydar Ergül and Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit.
WHO IS ALI ŞÜKRAN?
Ali Şükran Aktaş was part of the Second Peace Group that came to Turkey from Europe on October 29, 1999 upon the call of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan. Aktaş came from Europe with Haydar Ergül, Aygül Bidav, İmam Canpolat, Yusuf Kıyak, Aysel Doğan, Hacı Çelik and Dilek Kurt, who were in the Second Peace Group, after the first Peace Group members from Kandil were arrested on October 1, 1999.
The members of the Second Peace Group were also detained and arrested like the members of the first Peace Group. The 8 Peace Group members who were tried in Istanbul were given prison sentences ranging from 7 to 15 years. Aktaş, who was released from prison in 2005, was given a 20-month prison sentence on the grounds that he had "the potential to engage in propaganda for a terrorist organization" in a case in which he was tried.
Aktaş was sent back to prison after the Supreme Court of Appeals approved the sentence on October 4, 2013 and spent 9 months and 10 days in prison.
ENTERS THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACE FOUNDATION
Continuing to wage a struggle for peace after his release from prison, Aktaş was elected as a member of the Foundation's Board of Auditors at the 2nd Ordinary General Assembly of the Peace Foundation held on January 29, 2020.
Aktaş passed away on August 12 in the Urla district of Izmir, where he was receiving cancer treatment.