Doğu Perinçek (; born 17 June 1942) is a Turkish politician, doctor of law and former communist revolutionary who has been chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party (, VP) since 2015. He was also a member of the Talat Pasha Committee, an organization that denies the Armenian genocide. Politically, he favors close relations with China and is strongly anti-American. Background and personal life Doğu Perinçek was born in Gaziantep in 1942 to Sadık Perinçek of Apçağa, Kemaliye, and Lebibe Olcaytu of Balaban, Darende. Sadık Perinçek was the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court and a parliamentary deputy of the Justice Party (AP), the predecessor of the True Path Party (DYP). Perinçek attended Ankara Sarar primary school, Atatürk Lycee, and Bahçelievler Deneme high school. He interrupted his university education to study German at the Goethe Institute in Germany, going on to finish Ankara University's Law faculty, and working as an assistant lecturer in public law. He then completed a doctorate at the Otto-Suhr-Institut in Germany. Prior to his detention as part of the Ergenekon case, Perinçek resided in Gayrettepe, Istanbul with his wife Şule Perinçek. They have two daughters, Zeynep and Kiraz, and two sons, Can and Mehmet Bora, who is a historian. Political career Perinçek became involved in left-wing revolutionary politics in the 1960s. In 1968 he was elected president of the Idea Clubs Federation (Fikir Kulüpleri Federasyonu, FKF, later Dev-Genç), a group of left-wing youth, and adopted a pro-Chinese, pro-Mao Zedong stance. Perinçek was involved in the relaunch of the magazine Aydınlık in 1968, supporting the Luminosity movement. Due to political disagreements between Mahir Çayan's followers and Perinçek's faction, Aydınlık split into two journals (Perinçek's group published under the name Proleter Devrimci Aydınlık). In 1969 he founded the illegal Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey (TİİKP). He was arrested after the 1971 military coup and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released in July 1974. In 1978 the Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey (TİKP) was founded as a legal successor to the TİİKP. Perinçek was arrested again after the 1980 military coup and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released in March 1985. In 1987 he was involved with the launch of the weekly news magazine 2000'e Doğru. In 1991, while he was editor-in-chief of 2000'e Doğru, he went to Lebanon to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan