Nursel Aydoğan (*17 November 1958,

Yenişehir, Bursa Yenişehir is a district of Bursa province. It is 52 km far from the east of Bursa and Bursa city center. Bursa's international airport is within the borders of Yenişehir. For this reason, the airport is called 'Yenişehir Airport'. County ...

, Turkey), is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

politician and former MP for

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

Early life and education

In 1983 she graduated from

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University is a leading state university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by URAP in 2021. The university has two main campuses. The first campus is in the old to ...

department of food engineering. Since then she has worked as a food engineer. She became active in human rights groups and politics and in 2003 was spokeswoman for the Federation of Associations of Families of Detainees and Convicts for Cooperation (TUAD-FED) Three years later she is quoted as the Chairman of TUAD-FED.

Political career

Nursel Aydoğan was a founding member of the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party ( tr, Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi, ku, Partiya Aştî û Demokrasiyê, BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 20 ...

. In the June 2011 General election, running as an independent candidate, she was elected to 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 Consti ...

as an MP for Diyarbakır. In October 2011, she was charged with making propaganda for a terrorist organization. The chief prosecutor asked for a 72-year prison sentence. In the June 2015 Elections and the November 2015 election she was re-elected as a member of parliament for the HDP in the province

. Her immunity was lifted on 20 May 2016 and she was detained on 4 November 2016. According to her party she was accused of "attending a funeral, joining a protest, standing behind a banner that read “Enough, No More Deaths, May Freedom Grow” during a protest, and giving speeches during press conferences." For these offenses she was sentenced to 4 years 8 months and 7 days in prison on 13 January 2017. On the 21 April 2017 she was released on probation but on the 28 April a new arrest warrant was issued for her. In May 2017 Aydoğan was stripped of her mandate in the Turkish Parliament, following which she left Turkey and went into exile to Europe. On the 17 March 2021, the State Prosecutor at the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

in Turkey

Bekir Şahin Bekir Şahin (born 1 March 1960, Mecitözü, Turkey) is a jurist, former judge and the current State Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation in Turkey. Education He was educated at the Imam Hatip school and studied law at the Dokuz Eylül Universi ...

filed a lawsuit before the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

, demanding for Aydoğan and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban for taking part in Turkish politics. At the same time, Şahin asked for the shutting down of the HDP for it being no different than the

Kurdistan Workers' Party 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 south ...

(PKK).

References

External links

Profile on website of Turkish parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aydogan, Nursel 1958 births Living people Turkish Kurdish politicians Turkish Kurdish women Deputies of Diyarbakır Democratic Regions Party politicians Turkish democracy activists Turkish human rights activists Hacettepe University alumni Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey 21st-century Turkish women politicians 21st-century Turkish politicians People expelled from public office Turkish prisoners and detainees Politicians arrested in Turkey Turkish women MPs