Sebahat Tuncel
Sebahat Tuncel is a Kurdish politician, women's rights advocate, former nurse and member of Parliament in Turkey.
She was born in Yazıhan and studied cartography and land surveying in Mersin University, before beginning her political career through the Women's Branch of the People's Democracy Party in 1998. She was vice co-chairperson and Istanbul deputy of the Democratic Society Party, which she helped to found. She has also worked with international organizations such as UNDP and Amnesty International. She was arrested on 5 November 2006 for alleged membership in the PKK But after she ran as an independent candidate within the Thousand Hopes alliance for the parliamentary elections from prison and after winning a seat in Istanbul with 93,000 votes, was released from custody in July 2007. She was elected to the Turkish Parliament from prison to the surprise of many. In 2013 she was elected Co-Chair of the HDP together with Ertuğrul Kürkçü. In May 2016 she was elected Co-Chair of the Democratic Regions Party together with Kamuran Yüksek. On 4 October 2016 she was taken into custody and arrested in November 2016. According to the International Law Bureau the prosecution demands 130 years of imprisonment for terror related charges due to her membership in the legal party DTP and 16 statements and speeches she made during meetings and press conferences she held before meetings of the DBP. On the 5 January 2018 she got sentenced to 2 years and three months in prison. On 1 December 2018 she joined Leyla Güven in her hunger strike. In February 2019 she got sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organization and making propaganda for a terrorist organization.
