Gurbetelli Ersöz (1965,

Palu Palu, officially known as the City of Palu ( Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi Province in Indonesia. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north ...

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plai ...

– 8 October 1997,

South Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), n ...

) was a chemist, journalist and later also member 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).

Biography

Gurbetelli was born in

, and studied chemistry at the University. Later she worked as an assistant at the

Çukurova University Çukurova University () is a public research university located in Adana, Turkey. The university features sixteen faculties, three colleges, seven vocational colleges, three institutes, and twenty-six research and application centers. Its campus i ...

. As a chemist, she calls the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986 and the chemical attack in Halabja in 1988 two major events turning points in her life. Following, she began to get involved politically, she wanted to make a change. Due to her political activities, she was arrested in 1990, and prosecuted and sentenced for supporting the PKK. She stayed in prison for two years. After her release, she became the Editor in-Chief of ''

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 ...

'', a newspaper which showed the Kurdish side of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. But her tenure was short-lived as she was detained with 107 other people during a search of the newspapers headquarters 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 ...

on the 10 December 1993. Eventually she was arrested on the 12 January 1994. During the trial the prosecutor demanded up to 15 years imprisonment. Gurbetelli and the other prosecuted journalists were supported by the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

and writers like

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

. She was sentenced to 3 Years and 9 months imprisonment but released in June 1994. After she was not allowed no work as a journalist, she joined the PKK in 1995. She was killed in combat on the 8 October 1997. A case was opened at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

in 1998 mentioning her together with other former staff members of ''Özgür Gündem''. The court decided not to consider her being a applicant to the court as she has died in 1997.

Legacy

Gurbetelli is seen as a proficient journalist in the Kurdish society and within the

Musa Anter Musa Anter (1920 – 20 September 1992), also known as "Apê Musa" (, literally "Uncle Musa"), was a Kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual. Anter was assassinated by Turkish JITEM in September 1992. Early life and education He was born i ...

and Free Press Martyrs Journalism Awards of the Free Journalists Association of Turkey, there exists a Gurbetelli Award in her memory. To the award ceremony of 2016, several politicians of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) attended. The Press Academy of the PKK also bears her name. The visual artist Banu Cennetoğlu presented an art work about her

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

at the Documenta 14 in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Her diary was published in Germany in 1998 and called ''I Engraved My Heart into the Mountains'' and in 2014 the book was also published in Turkey, but soon after the book was banned by the Turkish authorities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurbetelli Ersoz Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party Kurdish journalists Turkish prisoners and detainees 1965 births 1997 deaths Kurdish female military and paramilitary personnel Kurdish military personnel Kurdish military personnel killed in action