Sara Kaya (born 1 January 1970 in

Nusaybin Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

) is a Kurdish politician from Turkey and a former mayor of

. She is currently being held at the Tarsus prison in

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

Education and professional career

Sara Kaya was born in

, where she attended primary and secondary education. She graduated in construction engineering at the

Dicle University Dicle University ( tr, Dicle Üniversitesi, ku, Zanîngeha Dîcleyê) is a public university located in Diyarbakır, Turkey, and one of the largest higher education institution. Vocational schools are located in Ergani, Çermik, Çüngüş, B ...

in Diyarbakir and later also in Business Administration from the

Anadolu University Anadolu University ( tr, Anadolu Üniversitesi) is a public university in Eskişehir, Turkey. The university is known for its success in verbal fields such as history and communication. Its Faculty of Communication Sciences is sometimes considered ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

. She was employed for nineteen years at the Municipality of Nusaybin during which she acted for several years the speaker of the workers union of the municipality.

Political career

During the local elections of 2014, she was elected Mayor of Nusaybin representing 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 ...

(BDP). Her tenure was marked by the declaration of self governance and the subsequent

curfews A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

in Nusaybin. She has been described as a supporter of the

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

as well as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Prosecution

She was detained on the 28 August 2015 for having announced the city would govern itself and later transferred from detention in

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

to a prison in Sincan,

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 ...

in September 2015. She was released from prison pending trial in November 2015. Kaya was unseated from her post as a Mayor in September 2016 and re-arrested in January 2017. Her lawyer in 2018 was Kamuran Tanhan, who claimed the police fabricated evidence against Kaya. In 2019 she was moved to Tarsus prison in

. Sara Kaya was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 majorly for being a member of an illegal organization and 2 1/2 years for misconduct in office.

Personal life

Sara Kaya is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaya, Sara 1970 births Living people Kurdish politicians Anadolu University alumni Women mayors of places in Turkey People from Nusaybin People expelled from public office Politicians arrested in Turkey Dicle University alumni 21st-century Turkish women politicians