Namik Haluk Baskinci

Haluk Baskinci (born Namik Haluk Baskinci, November 25, 1957 – June 28, 1995) was a Turkish architect, engineer and musician.

Early years

Haluk was born in Edirne, the border town to Greece and Bulgaria on November 25, 1957. Looking back to a long glorious family history - his grandfather Ali Baskinci, called "Arap Ali" (Ali the Arab), happened to be the leader of a revolutionary troop, which freed Edirne from the Greek occupation in 1922- Haluk enjoyed a very good institutional education. As the third child of Fatma Baskıncı (born Yıldırım; March 1933 – died January 11, 2006) and Süreyya Baskıncı (*June 6, 1924), Haluk attended the Istiklal primary school during 1963-1968, the Atatürk secondary school during 1968-1971 and Edirne High School during 1971-1974. After gaining his high school degree, Haluk took part in the State University Emplacement test in 1974, reaching a place in the statewide top ten. Compared to his siblings, his older brother Faruk Baskıncı (1954–1967), his older sister Süheyla Meriç (born Baskıncı on April 8, 1955) and his younger sister Serap Kocabaşı (born Baskıncı on November 27, 1968), Haluk remained interested in languages, literature, sports and most of all music. He was known as a prodigy, focusing on his success in school and in extracurricular activities. Haluk played basketball in the Turkish regional league of Thrace and was part of the Classical Turkish Art Music Orchestra of Edirne, which he conducted from the early 1990s until his death in 1995.

University years

After succeeding in the State University Emplacement Test, Haluk attended the Galatasaray Mühendislik Yüksek Okulu (Engineering University of Galatasaray) in Istanbul in 1975. During his time at the university, he sympathized with Communism and Socialism. While Turkey was heading to an inevitable political crisis, which collapsed in the 1980 Turkish coup d'état|12th September Coup in 1980, Haluk became active in several political student organizations such as DevSol ("The Revolutionary Left") and Dev-Yol ("The Revolutionary Path"). Unfotunately, apart from his active role as editor for various pamphlets against the then-gouvernment, it is less known about his position in these organizations.

Personal life

During the summer of 1976, Haluk met his future wife Sevinç Büyükçay (born September 6, 1959). She was raised in Germany and remained there until their wedding on April 18, 1981. After marrying Sevinç, Haluk had to attend his military service in Kars in 1983, where he accidentally was struck by a lighting while repairing a telephone booth. After he had been reanimated, he had to spend several months in the military hospital of Erzurum before he was released from the Army and was sent back home. Until his death in 1995, he suffered from a very heavy form of epillepsy. Though it was strictly forbidden to him to drink alcohol, he started using it as a form of medication to elude seizures and got addicted to it.

He opened his first company "ToBa" in the early 1980s, collaborating with his former friend, whose surname's "To" (Toprak) was used in the company's name alongside Baskıncı's "Ba". Even though, the company has changed its format during the 1980s, which consequently lead to the dismissal of his former partner, the company's name remained the same. Haluk then collaborated with his brother-in-law Timur Büyükçay- a computer programmer and IT-Specialist until 1993. Timur founded his own IT-company "pro.sis" in 1993 and opted out of "ToBa". Haluk's marriage, though, started more promising than it has ended. Because of many heavy discrepancies with Sevinç, the couple separated in 1993 and eventually got divorced in 1995. Their daughter, their only child, Dilara (*June 13, 1984) abode with Haluk until his death in 1995 and then moved to her mother Sevinç, who had already gone back to Germany. They both still live in Germany.

Music

Before his death in 1967, Haluk's brother Faruk happened to be the center of the family. Their father Süreyya, a very influential man and the head of the State Employment Office in Edirne, has engaged various music teachers to train Faruk and his sister Süheyla in the art of kanun- a traditional Turkish plucked string instrument. Haluk was not allowed to attend the lessons, nevertheless, he attended them in secret by hiding behind furniture but was eventually discovered by the teacher. After the asking Haluk questions about the lessons and finding out that this child was immensely talented, the teacher persuaded Süreyya to focus on Haluk and even offered to teach him for free. Haluk was five years old back then. Haluk began to learn many classical western instruments, such as piano, accordion, mandoline and eventually the guitar alongside the classical Turkish instruments such as kanun, tambur and oud. His musical training, which began at the age of five, directly contributed him to be the youngest member of the Classical Turkish Art Music Orchestra of Edirne, in which he performed with some of the greatest artists of the Classical Turkish Art Music such as Safiye Ayla, and also made him celebrated as a child of prodigy in several newspaper articles. Although he was a brilliant architect, he remained more a musician throughout his entire life, composing many pieces of his own and finally conducting his former orchestra.

Death

Haluk died on June 28, 1995 as the victim of a murder. It is very less known about the circumstances of his death. He was found dead in his appartement by his sister Süheyla and one of his then-friends. Haluk was stabbed to death. His murderer remains unknown.

References

Persondata
Name	Baskinci, Namik Haluk
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 25, 1957
Place of birth
Date of death	June 28, 1995
Place of death