Eren Keskin (born April 24, 1959 in

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) is a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

lawyer and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

in Turkey. She is the vice-president of the

Turkish Human Rights Association The Human Rights Association ( tr, İnsan Hakları Derneği, İHD) is an NGO for advancing Human rights in Turkey, founded in 1986 and headquartered in Ankara. Establishment The İHD's origins can be traced to the victims of the purges in the ...

(İHD) and a former president of its

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

branch. She co-founded the project "Legal Aid For Women Who Were Raped Or Otherwise Sexually Abused by National Security Forces”, to expose abuses happening to women in Turkish prisons. She has been arrested, imprisoned, and the object of numerous lawsuits in relation to her human rights activities. In 1995 she was imprisoned for her activities and was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. In 2002 she was accused by Turkey's State Security of "aiding and abetting" the PKK because of her advocacy for

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

to use their native language in Turkey. In March 2006 a Turkish court sentenced her to 10 months’ imprisonment for insulting the country's military. The sentence was then converted to a fine of 6000 New Turkish Liras, which Keskin refused to pay. From 2013 to 2016 Keskin was the editor in chief of the newspaper

Özgür Gündem ''Özgür Gündem'' ( Turkish for "Free Agenda") was an Istanbul-based daily Turkish language newspaper, mainly read by Kurds. Launched in May 1992, the newspaper was known for its extensive reporting on the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and was reg ...

has been sentenced to a total of 7 years and 6 months together. In March 2018 she has been sentenced to 5 years and 3 months imprisonment for insulting the president and another 2 years and 3 months for "degrading Turkishness, the Republic, institutions and organs of the state" according to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. On 3 December 2021,

Evrensel ''Evrensel'' (English: Universal) is a Turkish daily newspaper. History and profile ''Evrensel'' was founded on 7 June 1995. The issues captured and written are from a socialist perspective. The paper is different from other Turkish newspapers in ...

reported Keskin's home was raided by Turkish police.The raid was conducted to summon Keskin to account for a speech she delivered in Turkey’s southeastern

Dersim province Tunceli Province ( tr, Tunceli ili, ku, Parêzgeha Dêrsimê, Zazaki: ), formerly Dersim Province, is located in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The least densely-populated province in Turkey, it was originally named ''Dersim Province' ...

in 2019.

Awards

In 2004 she received the Aachen Peace Award "for her courageous efforts and activities for human rights." In 2005 she was awarded the Esslingen-based Theodor Haecker Prize for Civic Courage and Political Integrity. In 2018 she received the Helsinki Civil Society Award from the

Netherlands Helsinki Committee The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) is a non-governmental organization that promotes human rights and strengthens the rule of law and democracy in all countries of Europe, and the Central Asian countries participating in the Organization for Se ...

for her work based on, and contributing to the legacy of the Helsinki Principles. In 2019 Keskin was a finalist of the Martin Ennals Awards, where she was honoured for her exceptional and relentless fight for fundamental freedoms and rights in Turkey. Due to her travel ban, she was not able to attend the award ceremony on the 13 February 2019.

References

External links

Solidarity with Erin Keskin site

Interview
in ''amnesty journal'', April 2003 (in German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keskin, Eren 1959 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Turkey Living people Turkish democracy activists Turkish human rights activists Turkish people of Kurdish descent Turkish prisoners and detainees Women human rights activists Kurdish human rights activists