Şafak Pavey (née Önal; born 10 July 1976) is a Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician. She is a member of the

Turkish Grand National Assembly 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 ...

from the main opposition

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) representing

Istanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

. She is the first disabled woman ever elected to the Turkish parliament, and is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2012 Pavey was honored by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

with the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

. She announced her resignation as a member of parliament on 15 September 2017, citing health reasons. The resignation took effect on 25 October 2017.

Early life and education

Pavey was born on 10 July 1976 in

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 ...

to Şahin and

Ayşe Önal Ayşe Önal (born 1955) is a Turkish journalist and writer. A former editor of '' Nokta'', in 2000 she moved to London and became foreign correspondent for Kanal 7, before moving to ''Akşam'' and Show TV in 2003. Her best known book is ''Honou ...

, a well-known journalist and writer. In 1994, she moved to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

with her husband to study art and film. On 24 May 1996, Pavey was on a train in Zurich when an accident occurred. She was critically injured, according to her husband. Pavey's left arm and left leg were

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

and she nearly died from the injuries. It was before her 20th birthday. One year later, she went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to pursue her education. She studied international relations at the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

and completed her post-graduate studies at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Career

Pavey served in the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integratio ...

, being responsible for external relations and humanitarian aid in countries such as

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and Syria. She worked as the spokesperson of UNHCR for Central Europe in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and later as the head of human rights treaty body secretariat at the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

Safak Pavey with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Michelle Obama at 2012 IWOC Award

She was a columnist for the Istanbul-based Armenian-Turkish bilingual weekly ''

Agos ''Agos'' (in hy, Ակօս, "furrow") is an Armenian bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 5 April 1996. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an online English edition. Today, the paper h ...

'', and has authored three books. She carried out joint projects with Harvard University, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Norwegian Design Council on inclusive/universal design and displaced persons. The book ''13 Numarali Peron'' (Platform Number 13) narrating the train accident experience, written jointly by her mother Ayşe Önal and Pavey herself, became a best-seller in Turkey. She collaborated with author and Nobel Peace Laureate

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi wa ...

on the book "Refugee Rights in Iran". After fifteen years living abroad, Pavey returned to Turkey in 2011 and ran for a parliament seat. She left her position at the United Nations in 2012 and was elected as Deputy of Istanbul Province for the Republican People's Party, becoming the first disabled female member of the Turkish Parliament. As part of her parliamentary work, she is a member of the Turkey-EU-Accession Committee, the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean Union, the Euro-Med Sub-Committee on Energy, Water and Environment, and vice-chair and Member of the Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Groups with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. She was subsequently appointed as one of the CHP's deputy chairpersons, responsible for environmental and social policy. She is an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

Honors

* International Woman of Courage by the US Department of State * Outstanding Young Person of the World Award by the

Junior Chamber International Junior Chamber International, commonly referred to as JCI, is a non-profit international non-governmental organization of young people between and years old. It has members in about 124 countries, and regional or national organizations in mo ...

Secularist of the Year Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement. ...

2014 by the UK National Secular Society

Trivia

According to

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

newspaper, Şafak Pavey's mother is a cousin is of

Deniz Gezmiş Deniz Gezmiş (27 February 1947 – 6 May 1972) was a Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, student leader, and political activist in Turkey in the late 1960s. He was one of the founding members of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THK ...

, the Turkish political activist in the late 1960s.Hürriyet newspaper
/ref>

References

External links

*https://twitter.com/safakpavey {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavey, Safak 1976 births People from Ankara Alumni of the University of Westminster Alumni of the London School of Economics Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Turkish people with disabilities Turkish journalists Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Turkish officials of the United Nations Living people Deputies of Istanbul Politicians with physical disabilities Turkish amputees Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Women who received the International Women of Courage Award 21st-century Turkish women politicians 21st-century Turkish politicians Women legislative deputy speakers