Bahriye Üçok (1919 – 6 October 1990) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

academic of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, left-wing politician, writer,

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

, and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist whose assassination in 1990 remains unresolved.

Early life and education

Born in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

in 1919, Bahriye Üçok finished her primary education in

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

and then graduated from Kandilli High School for Girls in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. She was educated in

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic and Turkish History at the Faculty of Philology, History and Geography of

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

. At the same time, she attended the State Conservatory and completed the Opera section.

Professional career

After eleven years working as a high school teacher in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

and

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, she entered 1953 Ankara University as an assistant in the Faculty of Theology. She obtained her PhD in 1957 and became an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

with her thesis on ''Female Rulers in Islamic Countries'' in 1965. She subsequently became a professor, being the ever first female university teacher in this faculty. She was fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and interpreted Islam in a modern and tolerant way, focusing on the role of women in Islam.

Political career

In 1971, she was appointed a contingency senator by President

Cevdet Sunay Ahmet Cevdet Sunay (10 February 1899 – 22 May 1982) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the fifth president of Turkey from 1966 to 1973. Early life and career Sunay was born in 1899 in the village of Ataköy nea ...

, and so her political career started. In 1977, Üçok joined the center-left

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP). After the military coup in 1980, she co-founded the People's Party (Turkish: Halkçı Parti) and was elected deputy of

into 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 ...

in 1984. In 1985, after a merger (with

SODEP The Social Democracy Party (, SODEP) of Turkey was one of the two main parties of Turkey in early 1980s but later on merged with the People's Party to form the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) in 1985. Ideology Although SODEP, which exi ...

), her party was renamed the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP).

Murder

She also wrote an opinion column in the newspaper ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

''. After a TV forum, at which she declared that covered dressing in Islam (

Hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...

) is not obligatory, Bahriye Üçok received increasing threats from the militant organization "Islamic Movement" (). Not long after, on 6 October 1990, she was killed by a

letter bomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agenc ...

as she was trying to open a book package in front of her house. The assassination remained unsolved. She was laid to rest at the

Karşıyaka Cemetery The Karşıyaka Cemetery () is a modern burial ground located at Karşıyaka neighborhood in Yenimahalle district of Ankara Province, Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West ...

in Ankara.

Aftermath

Gülay Calap, known as the "parcel-girl" who had accepted the packet for delivery, disappeared for a long period after the assassination. On 16 January 1994, she was arrested in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

as one responsible to the Revolutionary People's Party, an organization that is aligned with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gue ...

. The court sentenced her to prison for 22 years and 6 months, of which she served 12 years. Calap joined 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) in 2007 and became its vice president in November of that year.

Selected works

* ''İslâm'dan Dönenler ve İlk Yalancı Peygamber'' (Renegers in Islam and the First Fake Prophet) (1967) Ankara * ''İslâm Devletinde Kadın Hükümdarlar'' (Female Rulers in Islamic Countries) * ''İslam Tarihi'' (History of Islam) * ''Islam Tarihinde Emeviler - Abbasiler'' (Umayyads - Abbasids in the History of Islam) * ''Atatürk'ün İzinde Bir Arpa Boyu'' (A Tiny Step in the Footsteps of Atatürk) 270p, (1985), Cem Publishing, Istanbul Atatürk'ün İzinde Bir Arpa Boyu
Yeni Sayfa * Aly Mazahéri, ''Ortaçağda Müslümanların Günlük Yaşayışları'' (translation) (Daily Life of Muslims in the Middle Age)

References

External links

Prof. Dr. Bahriye ÜÇOK
Atatürkçü Düşünce Derneği
Who is who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ucok, Bahriye 1919 births 1990 deaths 1990 murders in Turkey 20th-century Turkish historians 20th-century Turkish politicians 20th-century Turkish women writers 20th-century Turkish writers Ankara University alumni Academic staff of Ankara University Assassinated Turkish journalists Burials at Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara Cumhuriyet people Deaths by letter bomb Deputies of Ordu Female murder victims Politicians from Trabzon Terrorism deaths in Turkey Turkish activists Turkish sociologists Turkish terrorism victims Turkish women historians People killed by Islamic terrorism People murdered in Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Populist Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democracy Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey) politicians Turkish women academics Turkish women activists 20th-century Turkish women politicians Turkish women journalists Unsolved murders in Turkey October 1990 in Turkey