Bengi Yıldız

Who is Bengi Yıldız?

Bengi Yildiz is a Member of Parliament of the Peace and Democracy Party for Batman, Turkey.

Bengi Yildiz is a lawyer by training, graduating from Istanbul University Law Faculty, and has worked as a journalist.

He is a former President of the Batman branch of the IHD Turkish Human Rights Association.

In July 2007, he stood as an independent candidate in the Turkish parliamentary elections and entered the Turkish Parliament, joining the Democratic Society Party. He is now an MP for Batman.

He was re-elected in the 12 June 2011 general election.

He is married with two children.

On July 25th 2011 he declared that Kurds under the control of PKK/BDP would stop paying taxes to the Turkish government. He suggested that PKK/BDP would form a Libyan Jumhuriya type of structure whereby in every neighborhood and city the PKK/BDP supported Kurds would locally organize and abolish political parties to create a "self-determined democratic" autonomy. He furthermore suggested that although PKK/BDP supported Kurds want to be exempt from taxes it is still the responsibility of the Turkish Republic to invest in their infrastructure, roads, schools and pay for their public servants.