Semra Güzel (born 1984,

Viranşehir Viranşehir ( ku, Wêranşar) is a market town serving a cotton-growing area of Şanlıurfa Province, in southeastern Turkey, 93 km east of the city Şanlıurfa and 53 km north-west of Ceylanpınar at the Syrian border. In Late Antiquity ...

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 medical doctor, a politician and member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). She was a member of 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 ...

(Turkish Parliament) until her dismissal in December 2022.

Early life and education

She was born in Viransehir in the province of Sanliurfa where she attended primary and secondary education. She graduated from the University of Harran where she studied medicine. She then was employed at the Children's and Gynecological Hospital of

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 ...

in May 2009 and by November 2010 she became a medic 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 ...

Mardin province Mardin Province ( tr, Mardin ili; ku, Parêzgeha Mêrdînê; ar, محافظة ماردين) is a province of Turkey with a population of 809,719 in 2017, slightly down from the population of 835,173 in 2000. Kurds form the majority of the popu ...

. In 2012, she followed up on her studies at the Anesthetics and Reanimation department of the Gazi Yasargil Hospital in Diyarbakir. Additionally, she served as Member of the Board and co-chair in the Medical Chamber of Diyarbakir.

Political career

She was elected to the Turkish Parliament in the parliamentary elections of 2018, representing the HDP for Diyarbakir. In parliament she was concerned on issues concerning health and the Kurdish language. She questioned the fact that Health Ministry's medical hotline didn't provide a service in the Kurdish language but in other languages and also that the Health Cards issued in a hospital in

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . El ...

were in 17 languages but excluded the Kurdish language which is spoken by a considerable population in the province of Elazığ and also in Turkey. Due to press reports which showed her together with a member of 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), Özgür Özel of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) mentioned the party would approve the lifting of her

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

. She defended herself claiming that she had been engaged to Volkan Bora and as they met in 2014, it was during the peace process between the PKK and Turkey.

Arrest

In September 2022, the Interior Minister

Süleyman Soylu Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of L ...

announced her arrest over terrorism related charges and accused her of having tried to escape to Greece with a false passport. Imprisoned, she was dismissed from parliament, for not attending its sessions in December 2022.

Personal life

She was engaged to the PKK militant Volkan Bora, who was killed in a Turkish airstrike in Adiyaman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guzel, Semra Living people 1984 births People from Viranşehir 21st-century Turkish women politicians Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Turkish women MPs