The documentary about the life of Osman Özgüven, the unforgettable mayor of Dikili, was premiered. The documentary "Communist Osman", written by journalist and director Gökmen Ulu, attracted great attention.
The premiere of the documentary, which tells the story of Osman Özgüven and his friends, who was the Mayor of İzmir Dikili between 1984 - 1994 and 2004 - 2013, was held. The event, which was held in Izmir Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center with the support of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, attracted great attention.
CHP İzmir deputies Atila Sertel, Tacettin Bayır, Kani Beko, former deputies Musa Çam, Zeynep Altıok, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu, Gaziemir Mayor Halil Arda, İzmir Village Coop President Neptün Soyer, TMMOB İzmir Coordination Board Chairman Aykut Akdemir, Representatives of many professional chambers and non-governmental organizations and citizens participated. Mayor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, who went to Ankara to attend the meeting organized by the Nation Alliance Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Tunç Soyer did not attend the gala.
The event started with the presentation of journalist Gökmen Ulu, the director of the documentary. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor for his support to the people who took the stage with his teammates, contributed to the production, the film and the event. Tunç SoyerUlu said, “Dear brother Osman; Thank you for the good things you add to life. The fight you taught us is growing on our shoulders.” Ulu, who was born in Dikili, stated that the main goal of the documentary, where he worked for 19 months, was to show a model to the society, and said, "It is also a stance of respect for Osman Özgüven and his comrades." Explaining that the documentary includes many facts and that all the stories are based on justice, equality, freedom, on the axis of labor, democracy, and peace, Ulu said, "We learned to form a united front against fascism, of which we see many good examples today, from Osman Özgüven and his fellows long before we read Dimitrov's book." he said.
Afterwards, the documentary, which includes interviews with 63 people, including Osman Özgüven's relatives, friends, artists, politicians, lawyers, trade unionists, journalists, representatives of non-governmental organizations, workers and municipal officials of the period, and extensive archive footage, was screened. There were emotional moments during the screening of the documentary, and it was seen that some viewers could not hold back their tears.
Osman Özgüven: Let's get together guys
Özgüven, who came to the stage with his wife Ayşe Özgüven in the finale of the documentary, said, “Everything has been said, there is nothing to be said. Only we must unite to get rid of this power that signals a return to fascism. Let's be friends together, let's unite, friends," he said.
Who is Osman Ozguven?
Born in 1944 in Dikili, İzmir, Osman Özgüven graduated from Ege University with a civil engineering diploma. He won the Dikili Mayoral Election in 1984 as a SODEP candidate. Özgüven, who closed his construction materials shop and ended his commercial activities when he started his duty as the President, did not acquire any assets throughout his life.
Özgüven, who won the election he entered from the SHP in 1989, won the elections he entered from the SHP in 10 and from the CHP in 2004, after 2009 years, and served as the Mayor of Dikili for four terms. Özgüven also served as CHP İzmir Provincial Chairman in 1996.
Özgüven, who opened the door of friendship in the Aegean after decades of broken relations between the Turkish and Greek peoples, was deemed worthy of the Abdi İpekçi Peace Prize and many international awards as a result of this concrete success.
Self-confidence especially attracted attention with participatory local democracy and populist municipality practices. Özgüven, who also suffered the FETÖ plot, was dismissed by the AKP Government in 2013. Ozguven was acquitted of all the cases in which he was tried.
Self-confidence was nicknamed "Communist Osman" because of his municipal practices.