Özgür Özel (born 21 September 1974) is a Turkish politician from the Republican People's Party (CHP) who has served as a

parliamentary group leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

of the CHP since June 2015, along with Engin Altay and Levent Gök. He is a former pharmacist and has been 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 o ...

for the electoral district of

Manisa Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province. Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port ci ...

since the 2011 general election. He is well known for his activism concerning the rights of miners in

Manisa Province Manisa Province ( tr, ) is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the southeast, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the northeast, and Balıkesir to the north. The city of Ma ...

Early life and career

Education

Özgür Özel was born on 21 September 1974 in

and completed his primary education there. He completed his secondary education and started college at

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Bornova Bornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98.6 percent, with corresponding high levels of de ...

Anadolu High School, but returned to Manisa where he graduated from college. He graduated from

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University ( tr, Ege Üniversitesi) is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the ...

Faculty of Pharmaceuticals.

Pharmacist

After graduating from university, Özel worked as a retail pharmacist until being elected as an MP in 2011. Starting in 2007, he has served as an executive board member, accountant and two-term General Secretary for the Turkish Pharmacists Association, having also made numerous statements and presentations in 163 different congresses and conferences. He is also a member of the International Pharmacists Federation, the European Union Pharmacists Group and the European Pharmacists Forum.

Political career

Republican People's Party

Özel was elected as a

for the electoral district of

in the 2011 general election and was re-elected in June 2015 and November 2015. He was elected to the CHP party council in the party's 18th Extraordinary Convention held in September 2014. As an MP, he is a member of the parliamentary Health Commission and the Prisons Investigatory Commission. At the start of the short-lived 25th Parliament on 24 June 2015, he was elected as a CHP

and was re-elected at the start of the 26th Parliament in November 2015. He currently serves alongside Engin Altay and Levent Gök. In 2015, Özel was awarded the

Uğur Mumcu Uğur Mumcu (; 22 August 1942 – 24 January 1993)
um:ag was a

Politician of the Year Award by the Atatürkist Thought Association and the Contemporary Journalists Association.

Soma mine disaster

Özel, along with other CHP MPs from Manisa, made worldwide headlines following the

Soma mine disaster On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by ...

in May 2014, where 301 miners were killed after coal mine collapsed in

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

. The disaster caused large-scale criticism of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, since it had rejected a parliamentary motion that Özel had put forward to investigate mining incidents in Soma and other mining towns just two months before the disaster. His speeches before and after the disaster received nationwide attention.

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly websiteTwitter Account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozel, Ozgur Living people People from Manisa Ege University alumni 1974 births Turkish pharmacists Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey