Hüseyin Olan (born 1959,

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (; , abbreviated as DEM Party) is a pro- Kurdish political party in Turkey. It is the legal successor of the Green Left Party and with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) handing over its work to this ...

(DEM Party). Olan is a former mayor of Bitlis and since June 2023, 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 ...

Early life and professional career

Hüseyin Olan was born in Bitlis in 1959 where he also attended high school. The Olan studied pharmacy at the

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University () is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the fourth oldest unive ...

in Izmir, from where he graduated in 1986. Following he worked as a pharmacist in Bitlis. From 2001 onwards, Olan became involved in the Chamber of Phramcists and was also a member of the Central Committee of the Pharmacists Union.

Political career

Hüseyin Olan was involved in several pro-Kurdish parties from 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) onwards. Having joined the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

(BDP), he was elected the mayor of Bitlis in local elections of March 2014. Under his mayorship, several streets were renamed, one of them after

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

whose Armenian ancestors stemmed from Bitlis. In November 2016, Olan was arrested with Nevin Daşdemir Dağkıran who served as a co-mayor over an investigation on terror related charges. He was sentenced to 7 years and six months imprisonment and was arrested in E type prison of Bitlis. He was released in July 2022. In the parliamentary elections of 2023, Hüseyin Olan was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, representing Bitlis for the YSP.{{Cite web , last=Şafak , first=Yeni , date=2023-06-19 , title=Bitlis Seçim Sonuçları - 2023 Genel Seçim Bitlis Oy Oranları {{! CANLI , url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2023/bitlis-ili-secim-sonuclari , access-date=2023-06-19 , website=Yeni Şafak , language=tr-TR

References

Living people 1959 births People from Bitlis Turkish pharmacists Turkish prisoners and detainees Ege University alumni Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians