Filiz Koçali (born 22 January 1958, Istanbul) is a female Turkish politician and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist and journalist. She was a founder member of the

Freedom and Solidarity Party The Left Party (, often written as SOL Parti) is a secular, socialist political party in Turkey. The Party was founded after the Freedom and Solidarity Party () decided to change its name to the Left Party at the 8th Extraordinary Congress held ...

(ÖDP) in 1996 and of the break-away

Socialist Democracy Party Socialist Democracy Party (''Sosyalist Demokrasi Partisi'', SDP) was a socialist party in Turkey. Most of its members were formerly in an opposition grouping within ÖDP, named ''Sosyalist Eylem Platformu'' (Socialist Action Platform). They def ...

(SDP) in 2002, and was secretary general of the SDP from 2004 to 2009. She is now a member of the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

Career

Born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, she participated in the students' movement in 1976. She interrupted her vocational training to work in several factories and take part in the struggles of the labor movement. After the 1980 military coup, she was active in a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organisation in Istanbul. As a journalist she wrote for the magazines ''

Kadınca ''Kadınca'' () was a monthly women's magazine published in Istanbul, Turkey, between 1978 and 1998. It played an important role for Turkish feminist movement. It was the first popular feminist women's magazine published in Turkey. History and p ...

'' and '' Kim'' and the newspapers '' Radikal gazetesi'' and ''

Bianet Bianet (acronym for ) is an Independent news agency based in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Focused on human rights in Turkey it is mainly funded by a Swedish organization. Bianet was established in January 2000 by journalists around , former representative ...

''. Having been a part of the women's rights movement since 1987, Koçali was one of the founding members of the feminist magazine '' Pazartesi'', whose editor-in-chief she was for a while. She was editor of the daily '' Günlük'' (published 2009 to 2011). She was involved in the founding of the

(ÖDP) in 1996 as well as the

, which broke away from the former in 2002, and a member of the executive committees of both parties. She was secretary general of the

(SDP) from May 2004 to 2009.BDP
Commissions

References

1955 births Living people 21st-century Turkish women politicians Socialist Democracy Party politicians Democratic Regions Party politicians Female party leaders of Turkey Politicians from Istanbul Journalists from Istanbul {{Turkey-politician-stub