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Sırrı Süreyya Önder

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Sırrı Süreyya Önder
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
2 June 2023
Constituencyİstanbul (I) (2023)
In office
12 June 2011 – 7 July 2018
Constituencyİstanbul (II) (2011)
Ankara (I) (June 2015, Nov 2015)
Personal details
Born (1962-07-07) 7 July 1962 (age 62)
Adıyaman, Turkey
Political partyPeoples' Equality and Democracy Party (2023–present)
People's Democratic Party (2014–23)
Peace and Democracy Party (2011–14)
OccupationActor, film director, screenwriter, politician

Sırrı Süreyya Önder (born 7 July 1962) is a Turkish film director, actor, screenwriter, columnist and politician. Elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), he later joined the party[1][2][3] even though he is not of Kurdish descent.[1] He competed in the 2014 municipal elections as the Istanbul mayoral candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the sister party of the BDP, coming third with 412,875 votes (4.83%).[4] In the general election of 7 June 2015 he was elected as MP for the 1st electoral district of Ankara Province.[5]

Early years and education

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Önder was born to a Turkoman family[6] on 7 July 1962 in Adıyaman to a barber father, who was founder and leader of the provincial office of Behice Boran's Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) in the 1960s. His father died from cirrhosis when Önder was eight years old. His mother moved with him and his four younger siblings to the maternal grandfather's house. To support his family, whilst still at school, he began working as an apprentice in a photograph shop, and this continued until he was in the tenth grade of high school.[2]

At the age of sixteen Önder began to earn more money working for the National Malaria Eradication Program. He got involved in the trade union movement and this led to him being fired. Following a brief time in his own tire repair shop he made a living in the countryside by taking people's photographs for their identity documents.[2]

In 1980 Önder enrolled in the University in Ankara to study political science. During the second term he joined a political student movement to protest the military junta that had overturned the government on 12 September 1980. He was arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison on charges of membership in an illegal organization. He was incarcerated in overcrowded wards in prisons like Mamak, Ulucanlar and Haymana.[2]

Career

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Önder's 2006 film The International was awarded the Best Picture Prize at the 2007 International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, and was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival.[7]

In 2010 Önder began a columnist career at the newspaper BirGün.[8] He then continued to write at the daily Radikal. Backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in the 2011 parliamentary elections, he ran as an independent. Elected as a deputy for Istanbul, he then joined the BDP.[9] After entering parliament, he quit his post at Radikal.[2] He also wrote for Özgür Gündem.[10]

Önder was involved in the 2013 Taksim Gezi Park protests and was reportedly hospitalised after being hit by a tear gas cartridge.[11] He was part of a delegation of HDP politicians facilitating a dialogue between Öcalan and the Turkish Government which on 28 February 2015 led to the Dolmabahce Consensus.[12] Önder was sentenced to 43 months in prison on 3 December 2018 for a speech he held during the Newroz festivities in 2013. On 6 December 2018 he went to prison in Kocaeli.[13] On 4 October 2019, Önder was released after the Constitutional Court ruled his freedom of expression had been violated a day earlier.[14] On 17 March 2021, the State Prosecutor to the Court of Cassation Bekir Şahin filed a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court demanding for Önder and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban to engage in politics together with a closure of the HDP due to their alleged organizational unity with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[15]

Filmography

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2006
  • The International, director, screenwriter, film score and actor - Best Picture Award 2007 International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival
  • Sis ve Gece, actor
  • Beynelmilel, director
2008
  • O... Çocukları, screenwriter
  • Kalpsiz Adam, advisor to screenwriter
2009
  • Ada: Zombilerin Düğünü, (guest actor)
  • Ejder Kapanı, actor
2010
  • Mar, guest actor
2011
  • Yeraltı, actor
2012
  • F Tipi film, director
2013
  • Düğün Dernek, actor

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sırrı Süreyya Önder: Ben kürt kökenli değilim". Videonuz (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e "'Bana bir avans verin size nasıl vekillik yapılır göstereyim'". Radikal (in Turkish). 16 April 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. ^ "BDP'den kritik açıklama!". Habertürk (in Turkish). 16 April 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey". Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Ankara 1. Bölge 2015 Genel Seçim Sonuçları". Haberler. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Sırrı Süreyya Önder Kürt mü aslen nereli eşi ve çocukları kimdir?".
  7. ^ "29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Sırrı Süreyya Önder/Tüm Köşe Yazışarı". BirGün (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Sırrı Süreyya Önder yaralandı". Star Gazete (in Turkish). 31 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Sırrı Süreyya Önder". Özgür Gündem (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  11. ^ Letsch, Constanze (1 June 2013). "Turkey protests spread after violence in Istanbul over park demolition". Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  12. ^ Phillips, David L. (23 May 2017). An Uncertain Ally: Turkey Under Erdogan's Dictatorship. Taylor & Francis. p. 68. ISBN 9781351623940.
  13. ^ "Sırrı Süreyya Önder in Prison". Bianet.
  14. ^ "Former lawmaker from pro-Kurdish HDP released after top court ruling". IPA NEWS. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Turkish prosecutor seeks political ban on 687 pro-Kurdish politicians". www.duvarenglish.com (in Turkish). 18 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
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