Sibel Yiğitalp (1 February 1971,

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 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) is a

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 ...

politician of and a former 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 ...

for the People's Democratic Party (HDP).

Early life and education

Sibel Yiğitalp was born in Mardin and studied Health Sciences at the Ondokuz Mayıs University from where she graduated with a master's degree. Onwards she worked as a manager in various healthcare institutions. She was a member of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and the Health Workers Union.

Political career

In the Parliamentary Elections of June 2015 she was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing Diyarbakir for the HDP. She was re-elected in the snap elections in November 2015.

Political views

As an MP she defended the rights of the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

during the curfews in 2016 demanding answers to the imposition of curfews in the Diyarbakir province and attempted to visit the by a curfew affected locality of Silvan together with the Diyarbakir Bar Association. She also opposed the dismissal of elected Kurdish Mayors.

Legal prosecution

In August 2017, a state prosecutor demanded that her parliamentary immunity be removed. In April 2018, another investigation into the lifting of her parliamentary immunity was initiated. In January 2019, Yigitalp was accused of terror related charges for which the prosecution demanded between 10 and 26 years imprisonment. She left Turkey for Germany, from where received support from the

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

. The State Prosecutor at 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 ...

in Turkey

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 ...

on the 17 March 2021, demanding for Yiğitalp and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban for political activities in Turkey. The lawsuit was filed jointly with a request for the HDP to be shut down due to the parties alleged organizational links with 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).

Personal life

She is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yigitalp, Sibel People from Mardin 1971 births Ondokuz Mayıs University alumni Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Living people