Bahriye Üçok (1919 – October 6, 1990) was a Turkish academic of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, left-wing politician, writer, columnist, and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist whose assassination in 1990 remains unresolved.

Early life and education

Born in

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

, Bahriye Üçok finished her primary education in

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, historically also known as Cotyora or Kotyora ( pnt, Κοτύωρα), and the capital of Ordu Province with a population of 229,214 in the city center. Name Kotyora, the ori ...

and then graduated from Kandilli High School for Girls in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. She was educated in

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Islamic and Turkish History at the Faculty of Philology, History and Geography of Ankara University. At the same time, she attended the State Conservatory and completed the Opera section.

Professional career

After eleven years working as a high school teacher in

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

and

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, she entered 1953 Ankara University as an assistant in the Faculty of Theology. She obtained her PhD in 1957, and became 1965 an associate professor with her thesis on "Female rulers in Islamic countries". She subsequently became a professor, being the ever first female university teacher in this faculty. She was fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and interpreted Islam in a modern and tolerant way focusing on the role of women in Islam.

Political career

In 1971, she was elected contingency senator by President

Cevdet Sunay Cevdet Sunay (; 10 February 1899 – 22 May 1982) was a Turkish politician and army officer, who served as the fifth President of Turkey from 1966 to 1973. Early life and career Sunay was born in 1899 in Trabzon, in the Ottoman Empire. ...

, and so her political career started. In 1977 Üçok joined the center-left Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP). After the military coup in 1980, she co-founded the People's Party (Turkish: Halkçı Parti) and was elected deputy of

into the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Const ...

in 1984. In 1985, after a merger (with

SODEP The Social Democracy Party ( tr, Sosyal Demokrasi Partisi, SODEP) of Turkey was one of the two main parties of Turkey in early 1980s but later on merged with the People's Party to form the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) in 1985. Ideolo ...

), her party was renamed the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP).

Death

She also wrote an opinion column in the newspaper ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pr ...

''. After a TV forum, at which she declared that covered dressing in Islam ( Hijab) is not obligatory, Bahriye Üçok received increasing threats from the militant organization "Islamic Movement" ( tr, İslami Hareket). Not long after, on October 6, 1990, she was killed by a

mail bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...

as she was trying to open a book package in front of her house. The assassination remained unsolved. She was laid to rest at the Karşıyaka Cemetery in Ankara.

Aftermath

Gülay Calap, known as the "parcel-girl" who had accepted the packet for delivery, disappeared for a long period after the assassination. On January 16, 1994 she was arrested in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

as the İzmir responsible of the Revolutionary People's Party, an organization that is aligned with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

. The court sentenced her to prison for 22 years and 6 months, of which she served 12 years. Calap joined the

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party ( tr, Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the So ...

(DTP) in 2007, and became its vice president in November of that year.

Selected works

* ''İslâm'dan Dönenler ve İlk Yalancı Peygamber'' (Renegers in Islam and the First Fake Prophet) (1967) Ankara * ''İslâm Devletinde Kadın Hükümdarlar'' (Female Rulers in Islamic Countries) * ''İslam Tarihi'' (History of Islam) * ''Islam Tarihinde Emeviler - Abbasiler'' (Umayyads - Abbasids in the History of Islam) * ''Atatürk'ün İzinde Bir Arpa Boyu'' (A Tiny Step in the Footsteps of Atatürk) 270p, (1985), Cem Publishing, Istanbul Atatürk'ün İzinde Bir Arpa Boyu
Yeni Sayfa * Aly Mazahéri, ''Ortaçağda Müslümanların Günlük Yaşayışları'' (translation) (Daily Life of Muslims in the Middle Age)

References

External links

Prof. Dr. Bahriye ÜÇOK
Atatürkçü Düşünce Derneği
Who is who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ucok, Bahriye 1919 births 1990 deaths 1990 murders in Turkey 20th-century Turkish historians 20th-century Turkish politicians 20th-century Turkish women writers Ankara University alumni Ankara University faculty Assassinated Turkish journalists Burials at Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara Cumhuriyet people Deaths by letter bomb Deputies of Ordu Female murder victims Murdered Cumhuriyet columnists People from Trabzon Terrorism deaths in Turkey Turkish activists Turkish sociologists Turkish terrorism victims Turkish women historians People killed by Islamic terrorism People murdered in Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democracy Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democratic People's Party (Turkey) politicians Turkish women academics Turkish women activists 20th-century Turkish women politicians Turkish women journalists Unsolved murders in Turkey October 1990 events in Turkey