Berdan Öztürk (born 1 May 1980 in Tutak) is a Turkish politician of

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 ...

descent who is from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), who has served as a Member of Parliament for the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Ağrı Ağrı (; ) is a city in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. It is the seat of Ağrı Province and Ağrı District.

since 7 June 2015.

Early life and career

Öztürk graduated from

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

Faculty of Law. After a year in legal work experience, he pursued a master's degree in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, specialising in International Arbitration and Commercial Law. He is a freelance lawyer since 2011 and is currently pursuing a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Political career

In the June 2015 general election, Öztürk was elected as a Member of 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 ...

representing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) for

Ağrı Ağrı (; ) is a city in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. It is the seat of Ağrı Province and Ağrı District.

. He was re-elected in the snap elections of November 2015 general elections, and the 2018 parliamentary elections. During the 8th congress of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) on the 16 September 2017, he and

Leyla Güven Leyla Güven (born 6 May 1964, Cihanbeyli, Konya Province, Konya, Turkey) is a Kurdish politician and Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey), HDP MP for Hakkari (electoral district), Hakkari, co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and form ...

were elected its Co-Chairs.

Prosecution

In 2016 an investigation was launched against Öztürk for participating in a funeral of five militants of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party 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 Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK). He was acquitted in May 2018. Due to a statement concerning the Turkish invasion of north eastern Syria he is investigated for terrorist propaganda since 2019. The

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International ...

(FIDH) condemned his prosecution and demanded an explanation from the Turkish authorities. On the 17 March 2021, the Turkish state prosecutor before the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

Bekir Şahin Bekir Şahin (born 1 March 1960, Mecitözü, Turkey) is a jurist, former judge and the current State Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation in Turkey. Education He was educated at the Imam Hatip school and studied law at the Dokuz Eylül Univer ...

filed a lawsuit before the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

demanding for him and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban for political activities. The lawsuit was returned to the prosecutors office on the 31 March, as the indictment did not meet the legal requirements.

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly website

Collection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozturk, Berdan Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Ağrı Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Living people People from Ağrı Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians