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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Mehmet Aksoy obituary | Mehmet Aksoy obituary |
| (1 day later) | |
| Rahila Gupta | |
| Tue 28 Nov 2017 18.14 GMT | |
| Last modified on Tue 28 Nov 2017 18.16 GMT | |
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| My friend Mehmet Aksoy, who has died aged 32, was a film-maker, journalist and prominent figure in the Kurdish community in the UK. He was killed in an Isis ambush while documenting the fight between Kurdish forces and Isis in Raqqa in northern Syria. | My friend Mehmet Aksoy, who has died aged 32, was a film-maker, journalist and prominent figure in the Kurdish community in the UK. He was killed in an Isis ambush while documenting the fight between Kurdish forces and Isis in Raqqa in northern Syria. |
| I met Mehmet in 2015 after he had given a rousing speech about an unbelievable place in northern Syria called Rojava (now known as the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria), where a self-governing, Kurdish-led democracy based on the principles of gender, race and class equality had been set up in 2012 with a special focus on women’s liberation. Such were Mehmet’s persuasive powers that I travelled to Rojava to have a look for myself. Everything he had said was true. Over the next two years I was also to discover his vast range of achievements in such a short life. | I met Mehmet in 2015 after he had given a rousing speech about an unbelievable place in northern Syria called Rojava (now known as the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria), where a self-governing, Kurdish-led democracy based on the principles of gender, race and class equality had been set up in 2012 with a special focus on women’s liberation. Such were Mehmet’s persuasive powers that I travelled to Rojava to have a look for myself. Everything he had said was true. Over the next two years I was also to discover his vast range of achievements in such a short life. |
| Mehmet was born in Istanbul, Turkey, the oldest child of Zeynep (nee Konca) and Kalender Aksoy. When he was four his family moved to London, where his parents now run an off-licence. Educated at Leyton college and then Barnet college, he started going to the Kurdish Community Centre in central London as a teenager and there became increasingly aware of the Kurdish freedom struggle. Important milestones in his political development were the writings of the Black Panther activist George Jackson and ideas on democratic federalism put forward by Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish leader now imprisoned in Turkey. | Mehmet was born in Istanbul, Turkey, the oldest child of Zeynep (nee Konca) and Kalender Aksoy. When he was four his family moved to London, where his parents now run an off-licence. Educated at Leyton college and then Barnet college, he started going to the Kurdish Community Centre in central London as a teenager and there became increasingly aware of the Kurdish freedom struggle. Important milestones in his political development were the writings of the Black Panther activist George Jackson and ideas on democratic federalism put forward by Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish leader now imprisoned in Turkey. |
| After gaining a first class degree in film studies from Queen Mary University of London in 2007, Mehmet worked as editor of the Kurdish.com website, but was also founding editor of an internet-based news portal called The Region and of the website Kurdishquestion.com, the place for information, news and analysis on all things Kurdish. | After gaining a first class degree in film studies from Queen Mary University of London in 2007, Mehmet worked as editor of the Kurdish.com website, but was also founding editor of an internet-based news portal called The Region and of the website Kurdishquestion.com, the place for information, news and analysis on all things Kurdish. |
| In tandem with his journalistic efforts he maintained his interest in film and in 2014 completed an MA in film-making at Goldsmiths, University of London: his 2014 film, Panfilo, an apocalyptic fairytale about three generations of men coming to terms with loss and death in rural Italy, won prizes at the Italian Short Film festival and the UK Student Film Awards. He was also the programme director of the annual London Kurdish film festival, and at other times could be seen wielding a megaphone or a placard in support of Kurdish self-government. | In tandem with his journalistic efforts he maintained his interest in film and in 2014 completed an MA in film-making at Goldsmiths, University of London: his 2014 film, Panfilo, an apocalyptic fairytale about three generations of men coming to terms with loss and death in rural Italy, won prizes at the Italian Short Film festival and the UK Student Film Awards. He was also the programme director of the annual London Kurdish film festival, and at other times could be seen wielding a megaphone or a placard in support of Kurdish self-government. |
| In his search for answers to the Kurdish question, he tragically paid with his life. | In his search for answers to the Kurdish question, he tragically paid with his life. |
| Mehmet is survived by his parents, his sister, Gonca, and his brother, Ali. | Mehmet is survived by his parents, his sister, Gonca, and his brother, Ali. |
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