With the Passing of Ustaaz Recai Kutan, the Nation of Kashmir Has Lost a Great Friend
By Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai
Secretary-General
World Kashmir Awareness Forum
Washington
On October 7, 2024, the Ummah lost an iconic personality, an intellectual, and a great thinker in the person of Ustaaz Recai Kutan. He was not keeping good health for a while and passed away at the age of 94 at a hospital in Ankara. Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Raji’un.
Ustaaz Kutan was born in 1930. He was first elected to parliament in 1977 as a member of the National Salvation Party (MSP), serving as a minister in the coalition government. He was later elected as the deputy leader of the Welfare Party (RP) founded in 1983. He was elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly from Malatya and later served as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in 1996 and 1997.
After the Welfare Party RP was dissolved, he led the Virtue Party (FP). And when it was also shut down, he became one of the founding members of the Felicity Party (SP) in 2001.
Ustaaz Kutan, as an educationist, established a think-tank in Ankara called the Economic and Social Research Center (ESAM). He was the Chairman of ESAM until his death.
Ustaaz Kutan was a trusted friend of the people of Kashmir. He was a fascinating person, a gentleman with wisdom, farsightedness, and judiciousness. He rendered his services for upholding the human rights of all around the world, including people of Palestine, Myanmar, and Kashmir.
It was on July 12, 1991, when I had the honor of receiving Ustaaz Recai Kutan at the Washington Dulles Airport along with my colleague and friend, Dr Ayub Thakur. We had invited him to be the keynote speaker at the First International Kashmir Conference held at Crystal City, Virginia (a subur of Washington DC) on July 13-14, 1991. The organizing committee included Dr Ghulam N. Mir, Dr Akraam Dhar, Dr Roufe Meer, and others. According to the Indian Express, the conference was attended by more than 700 delegates, including Lord Eric Avebury, Chairman British Parliamentary Human Rights Group; Congressman Dan Burton; and others. Dr Ayub and I spent a couple of hours together with him at the Marriot Hotel, in Crystal City, Virginia. We were impressed to see a selfless, highly educated politician from Turkey who was statesmanlike, poised, and fully informed about the situation in Kashmir.
It was my honor to meet Ustaaz Kutan on more than a dozen occasions. He always received me with warmth and extended all possible help in organizing seminars and conferences from the platform of ESAM.
I had a detailed meeting with Ustaaz Kutan on December 21, 2017, wherein he proposed that the next Kashmir conference should take place in the second week of February 2018, either at the Parliament in Ankara or at a University between February 10 to 18, 2018 on “India-Pakistan Relations: Breaking the Deadlock over Kashmir.” Those who were present in the discussion included Abdul Rashid Turabi, former, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir; Ustaaz Atik Agdag, Vice President, ESAM; Brother Yilmaz Balcin, and Brother Abdullah Usame Budak.
The people of Kashmir will never forget the selfless contribution and the tireless efforts of Ustaaz Kutan. His efforts will remain forever a milestone in the history of the freedom struggle of Kashmir. We will miss him a lot.
May Allah (s.w.t.) elevate the status of Ustaaz Recai Kutan as the guided person, comfort him in his grave, make his grave part of Jannatul Firdous and give Sabr to the family and all brothers and sisters at ESAM & Felicity party! Ameen.
Dr Fai is also the Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice. - gnfai2003@yahoo.com
