Behice Boran (1 May 1910 – 10 October 1987) was a Turkish Marxist politician, author and sociologist. As a dissenting political voice from the left, Boran was repeatedly imprisoned for her work and died in exile after the Turkish military coup of 1980.

Biography

Boran was born in Bursa to Kazan Tatar parents whose families had settled in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

during the 1890s. She graduated from American College for Girls in

Istanbul ) , 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_i ...

and studied sociology at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She received a PhD on sociology in 1939 from the University of Michigan, and was involved in

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

. She was nominated to Ankara University, Faculty of Language and History-Geography as an associate professor. She also joined the clandestine Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and began publishing left-wing periodicals, '' Yurt ve Dünya'' (Turkish: ''Motherland and World'') and ''Adımlar'' (Turkish: ''Steps''), which led to her sacking from the university. In 1950, she led the formation of the Turkish Peacelovers Association, which protested against Turkey's participation in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, which led to her arrest and a sentence of 15 months in prison. In 1965, Boran was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

deputy from the

Workers' Party of Turkey Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...

in the

Turkish parliament 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 ...

. Within the party Boran and

Sadun Aren Sadun Aren (19 March 1922 – 8 March 2008) was a Turkish academic and politician. He was one of the cofounders of Workers' Party of Turkey and of the leading figures of socialist movement in Turkey. Early life and education Aren was born on 19 ...

formed an alliance, known as Aren-Boran faction. In 1970, she assumed the leadership of the party. She was arrested after the military coup of 1971 and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. After she was released following an amnesty in 1974, she re-established the TİP in 1975. After the military coup of 1980, Boran went into exile in Europe, living as a political refugee in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

. In 1987, she announced that TİP and TKP had decided to merge. She died soon after this press conference from heart disease in Brussels, Belgium. She was 77 years old. Her body was brought to

and her funeral turned into a mass demonstration, the first public show of force of Turkey's left-wing movement after the coup.

Biography

References

See also