User:Phokaian/İştirakçi Hüseyin Hilmi

Born in İzmir around 1880s, Hüseyin Hilmi was a journalist, a political thinker, a socialist, a revolutionary of his sort, and an unmistakable figure in front of many workers strikes with his red tie, waistcoat, flag and car. He is often assumed to have been naïve, superficial, lusting for power yet successful in making socialism a popular ideology and improving Ottoman workers conditions with his support to several of their strikes. He was not always a socialist from the beginning but when he became one he was associated with his ideas and the journal, which he founded to spread those ideas. That is how he came to be known as İştirakçi, a practice widespread among Ottomans, commemorating people with their distinguishing ideas or names of their journals.

However, once he became a socialist, the publication of İştirak journal was only a beginning for him. He was among the initiators of the establishment of (Ottoman Socialist Party) Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası (OSF) and its leader. He was also dedicated to spreading of the celebrations of May Day as (Workers’ Feast) Amele Bayramı. His socialist struggle was not only limited to the spread and development of socialist ideas through journals but he was also supporting workers in their strikes.