Yurdusev Özsökmenler (born 1 January 1952) 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 who served as the

Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly The Deputy Speaker(s) of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Başkanvekilleri'') serve on the Speakers Council (Turkish: ''Başkanlık Divanı'') in the Grand National Assembly of Turk ...

from 9 July to 1 November 2015. She was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

in the June 2015 general election from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). She previously served as the Mayor of Bağlar between 2004 and 2009.

Early life and career

Yurdusev Özsökmenler was born on 1 January 1952 in the district of

Lapseki Lapseki (from Greek: Λάμψακος, ''Lampsakos'') is a town and district of Çanakkale Province, Turkey. In 2012 it had a population of 10,863. The mayor is Eyüp Yılmaz ( AKP). The district of Lapseki is known for its cherries, and a cher ...

Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The Eu ...

. Her mother was a primary school teacher. Özsökmenler graduated from

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

Department of Anthropology and Ethnology before becoming a journalist at newspapers such as ''

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 ...

'' and '' Özgür Ülke''. She later became a publishing expert at the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK).

Political career

Özsökmenler was a candidate from the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) for the electoral district of

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

in the 2002 general election. She was not elected since her party failed to win above the 10% election threshold needed to win parliamentary representation.

Mayor of Bağlar

In the 2004 local elections, Özsökmenler was the candidate of the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP) to become the Mayor of Bağlar Municipality. With 50,733 votes, Özsökmenler was elected Mayor of Bağlar and served until 2009. In the 2009 local elections, Yüksel Baran from the Democratic Society Party (DTP) was elected as Mayor in her place.

Deputy Speaker

For the June 2015 general election, Özsökmenler became a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidate from

and was subsequently elected as a

. The HDP, having the right to choose one of the four Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly by virtue of having 80 MPs, was allegedly initially intending to put forward

Dilek Öcalan Dilek Öcalan (born 3 October 1987) is a Kurdish politician of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who served as a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, from 2015 to 2018. She is the niece of Abdullah Öcalan, ...

. Öcalan, who is the nephew of PKK leader

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

, drew heavy criticism and it was claimed that she did not want the role. In Öcalan's place, Özsökmenler became the HDP's Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

Accusations of armed terrorism

While serving as the Mayor of Bağlar, a photo was released by an anti- PKK website based in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

that allegedly showed Özsökmenler armed and dressed in military uniform at a PKK training camp. The individual who released the picture alleged that Özsökmenler was codenamed 'Ayşe' and the wife of

, having been alleged to have advanced in office because of Öcalan. Özsökmenler and her lawyer denied these claims and referred to the publishing of the photograph as a 'heavy attack on �zsökmenler'spersonality'.

References

External links

Profile on the Parliament websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozsokmenler, Yurdusev Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Living people 1952 births People from Lapseki Istanbul University alumni Deputies of Van Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Democratic Society Party politicians Social Democratic People's Party (Turkey) politicians Women mayors of places in Turkey Mayors of places in Turkey 21st-century Turkish women politicians