Kemal Pir, also known as Laz Kemal (1952 in Güzeloluk, Gümüşhane Province – 7 September 1982 in Diyarbakır, Turkey) was a Turkish Marxist–Leninist revolutionary and one of the ethnically Turkish founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.[1]
Kemal Pir | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 |
| Died | September 7, 1982 (aged 29–30) |
| Cause of death | Hunger strike |
| Other names | Laz Kemal |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
| Political party | Kurdistan Workers' Party |
In the early 1970s he studied at Faculty of Literature of Hacettepe University. Influenced by the revolutionary movement led by Abdullah Öcalan, he left the university.[2]
In 1972, living together with Haki Karer in the same house, they received Öcalan after he was released from Mamak prison.[3] At the foundation meeting of the PKK in November 1978, he was elected a member of the central committee.
He was arrested in Batman in 1979 and imprisoned in the Diyarbakir Prison.[2] During his trial he declared that the PKK would begin a peoples revolt when the time was right.[4] While on hunger strike in prison, he was asked by the head of prison "Don't you love life, Kemal?" and famously answered: "We love life so much we are prepared to die for it."[5] He died due to a hunger strike in 1982.[3]