Ayşe Gökkan (born 1965 in Kulince, Sanliurfa) is a Kurdish journalist,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, spokeswoman of the Free Women Movement (TJA) and a former Mayor of

Nusaybin Nusaybin () is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation. Nusaybin is separated from the larger Kurd ...

. As a journalist, she has been active in news outlets such as

Özgür Gündem ''Özgür Gündem'' (Turkish language, 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 confl ...

or Azadiya Welat. Gökkan was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on grounds that she was a leader and a member of a terror organization in October 2021.

Early life and education

She was born in the village Kulince in

Suruç Suruç (; ; ''Sruḡ'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 744 km2, and its population is 100,961 (2022). It is on a plain near the Syria–Turkey border, Syrian border southwest ...

Şanlıurfa Province Şanlıurfa Province (; ), also known as Urfa Province, is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which be ...

. After having attended primary school in her village, she graduated from high school in

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

. Later she studied journalism at the American University of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

from which she graduated in 1998.

Political career

She was an active member of the People's Labour Party (HEP), the Democracy Party (DEP), the

People's Democracy Party People's Democracy Party (, HADEP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey. Murat Bozlak founded the party on 11 May 1994. The party disbanded in 2003. History Bozlak's first chairmanship Party founder and attorney Murat Bozlak was the part ...

(HADEP) the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) and the

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party (, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was c ...

(DTP). For the HADEP she was a candidate for the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

but was not elected as the party didn't pass the electoral threshold of 10%. Representing the DTP, she was elected as the mayor of

in the local elections of 2009. As Mayor of Nusaybin she opposed the construction of the border wall between the pro-

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

administration in

Rojava Rojava may refer to: * Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava, the geographical region where Kurds historically settled within present-day Syria * Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administ ...

and Turkey in 2013.

Human rights activist

In February 2020, she was elected as the new spokeswoman of the TJA. In June 2023, she filed a criminal complaint against

Hakan Fidan Hakan Fidan (born on 17 July 1968) is a Turkish politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs since June 2023. He was previously the director of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) from March 2010 until June 2023.''To ...

, the former Director of the

National Intelligence Organization loction 39°54'25.0"N 32°39'59.3"E The National Intelligence Organization (), also known by its Turkish language, Turkish initials MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization (), is an intelligence agency of the Turkish government tasked ...

and other public officials who protected a commander of the Ahrar al Sharqiya who graduated from the Artuklu University in

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

in June 2023. In November 2023, she was awarded a recognition prize of CHF 10,000 by the Swiss Paul Grüninger Foundation for her activities as a journalist and activist for women's rights.

Legal prosecution

According to a news-statement from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Gökkan has been detained for more than 80 times. She was detained again in January 2021 at her house in Kayapinar, Diyarbakir and accused of being a member of the

Kurdistan Communities Union The Kurdistan Communities Union (, KCK) is a Kurdish political organization committed to implementing Abdullah Öcalan's ideology of democratic confederalism. The KCK also serves as an umbrella group for several confederalist political parties o ...

, the Democratic Society Congress, the Free Women Movement and a leader and member of a terrorist organization. In October 2021, Gökkan was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on grounds that she was a leader and a member of a terror organization. According to the International Federation of Human Rights, she was not permitted to defend herself in the

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

during the trial and her lawyers abstained of preparing a defense in the last hearing because they and representatives of the Diyarbakir Bar Association were assaulted and mistreated by the police present in the courtroom in a past hearing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gokkan, Ayse 1965 births Living people 21st-century Kurdish writers 21st-century Turkish women politicians People from Suruç Democratic Society Party politicians Women mayors of places in Turkey Mayors of places in Turkey Turkish prisoners and detainees Kurdish feminists Kurdish women in politics Kurdish politicians