Sebahat Tuncel

Sebahat Tuncel (born 5 July 1975) is a Kurdish politician, women's rights advocate, former nurse and member of Parliament in Turkey.[1]

Sebahat Tuncel

MP
Honorary President of the Peoples' Democratic Party
Assumed office
22 June 2014
Serving withErtuğrul Kürkçü
ChairpersonsFigen Yüksekdağ
Selahattin Demirtaş
Preceded byPosition established
Chairwoman of the Peoples' Democratic Party
In office
27 October 2013 – 22 June 2014
ChairmanErtuğrul Kürkçü
Preceded byFatma Gök
Succeeded byFigen Yüksekdağ
Spokeswoman of the Peoples' Democratic Congress
Assumed office
16 October 2011
SpokesmanErtuğrul Kürkçü
Preceded byPosition established
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
22 July 2007
Constituencyİstanbul (III) (2007)
İstanbul (I) (2011)
Personal details
Born (1975-07-05) 5 July 1975
Yazıhan, Malatya Province, Turkey
Political partyPeople's Democracy Party
(1998-2003)
Democratic People's Party
(2003-2005)
Democratic Society Party
(2005-2008)
Peace and Democracy Party
(2008–2014)
Peoples' Democratic Party
(2014–present)
Other political
affiliations		Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK)
Alma materMersin University

She was born in Yazıhan and studied cartography and land surveying in Mersin University, before beginning her political career through the Women's Branch of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in 1998. She was vice co-chairperson and Istanbul deputy of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which she helped to found. She has also worked with international organizations such as UNDP and Amnesty International.[2] She was arrested on 5 November 2006 for alleged membership in the PKK[3] But after she ran as an independent candidate within the Thousand Hopes alliance for the parliamentary elections from prison and after winning a seat in Istanbul with 93,000 votes,[4] was released from custody in July 2007.[5] She was elected to the Turkish Parliament from prison to the surprise of many.[6] In 2013 she was elected Co-Chair of the HDP together with Ertuğrul Kürkçü.[7] In May 2016 she was elected Co-Chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) together with Kamuran Yüksek.[8] On 4 October 2016 she was taken into custody and arrested in November 2016.[9] According to the International Law Bureau the prosecution demands 130 years of imprisonment for terror related charges due to her membership in the legal party DTP and 16 statements and speeches she made during meetings and press conferences she held before meetings of the DBP.[10] On the 5 January 2018 she got sentenced to 2 years and three months in prison.[11] On 1 December 2018 she joined Leyla Güven in her hunger strike.[12] In February 2019 she got sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organization and making propaganda for a terrorist organization.[13]

Notes
  1. "Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi 23. Dönem Milletvekili". Grand National Assembly of Turkey. 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  2. The Relations Between the US, the Kurds, and Turkey, Sebahat Tuncel, Watson Institute, Brown University, Feb. 2008
  3. "Tuncel Goes From Prison to Parliament". Bianet. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  4. Row erupts over jailed Turkey MP, BBC, July 2007.
  5. The Kurdish Struggle in Turkey: An interview with Sebahat Tuncel, MP Archived 2009-04-06 at Archive.today, Jake Hess, ZNet, June 2008.
  6. Pojmann, W. (2008-09-29). Migration and Activism in Europe since 1945. Springer. p. 70. ISBN 9780230615540.
  7. "Tuncel and Kürkçü elected co-chairs of HDP". ANF News. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  8. "Sebahat Tuncel, Kamuran Yüksek Elected DBP Co-Chairs". Bianet. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  9. "DBP Co-Chair Sebahat Tuncel Arrested". Bianet. 7 November 2016.
  10. Owen, Margaret. "Indictment and Allegations Concerning Ms Sabahat Tuncel" (PDF). International Law Bureau.
  11. "PERSECUTION OF KURDISH MPS - Early Day Motions". edm.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  12. "DBP's Tuncel and 14 female prisoners start hunger strike". ANF. 1 December 2018.
  13. "Turkey jails two Kurdish former parliamentarians". Reuters. 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.