Leyla Birlik

Leyla Birlik (born 3 March 1974, Derik, Mardin[1]) is a Kurdish politician of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and a former member of the Gran National Assembly of Turkey.[2] She is currently a member of the executive council[3] and the head of the Women Committee in the Kurdistan National Congress.[4]

Leyla Birlik
Birlik speaks in 2017
Member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly
for Şırnak
In office
7 June 2015 – 1 November 2015
In office
1 November 2015 – 24 June 2018
Personal details
Born (1974-03-03) March 3, 1974
Derik, Mardin Province, Turkey
CitizenshipTurkish
Political partyPeoples' Democratic Party
SpouseMehmet Birlik
Children1
ResidenceGermany
Professionpolitician
CommitteesWomen Committee, Kurdistan National Congress

Political career

Before she became an Member of Parliament she served as the president of the local council in Şırnak.[1] Birlik was elected to the Turkish parliament in the general elections in June 2015[5] and re-elected in the snap elections of November 2015 both times representing Şırnak for the HDP.[6]

She was arrested on the 4 November 2016 together with fellow HDP MPs Nursel Aydoğan, Selahattin Demirtaş, İdris Baluken, Figen Yüksekdag and Gülser Yildirim.[7] She was charged with having insulted the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a speech she held in 2015[8] or having attended the funeral of her brother in law, who the prosecution sees as a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[9] European parliamentarians from Austria around Peter Pilz, were not allowed to visit her at the time by the Turkish authorities.[10] She was released pending trial on the 4 January 2017.[11][12] The same court also issued also a prohibition on travels abroad. In January 2018 she was sentenced to 1 year and 9 months imprisonment for insulting the president. She appealed the verdict.[8]

In exile

In August 2018, she fled to Oristiada, Greece and applied for asylum.[8] In December she was sentenced to a prison term again, this time for violating a law concerning on meetings and manifestations.[13] From Greece she traveled on to Germany where she also applied for asylum and it was granted. It was reported that a file with informations about her was confiscated by the Turkish authorities following the arrest of the lawyer of the German Embassy.[14]

Personal life

She is married to Mehmet Birlik[15] and has a child.[1] Her first term as an MP was marked by the fact that her brother in law Hacı Lokman Birlik[16] was killed by Turkish security forces, tied to a police car and dragged through the streets of Şırnak on in October 2015.[17] The father of Haci Lokman Birlik was later prosecuted for attending his sons funeral.[16]

References
  1. "Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi". www.tbmm.gov.tr. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  2. international, medico. "Türkei - Autoritäre Formierung". medico international (in German). Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  3. "Executive Council | Kurdistan National Congress". Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  4. "Commissions and Committees | Kurdistan National Congress". Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  5. "HDP Şırnak Seçim Sonuçları - 7 Haziran 2015 Genel Seçimleri | SABAH". www.sabah.com.tr. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  6. "1 Kasım Şırnak seçim sonuçları son durum". www.sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. "HDP MPs Aydoğan, Birlik Arrested". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  8. "Former Kurdish MP from Turkey to appeal for asylum in Greece | Kathimerini". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  9. Amberin, Zaman (27 July 2017). "Turkish parliament expels more pro-Kurdish lawmakers in absentia - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  10. "Österreichische Abgeordnete vor Gefängnis vertrieben - derStandard.at". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  11. "21 Months in Prison for HDP MP Leyla Birlik". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  12. "Printable". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  13. "Former pro-Kurdish deputies face prison". Ahval. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  14. Kimmerle, Elisabeth (2019-12-07). "Riskante Recherchen". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). pp. I. ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  15. "Şırnak Milletvekili Leyla Birlik Kimdir?". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  16. "Turkish court overturns acquittal of Kurdish man charged for attending son's funeral". Ahval. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  17. "Who was the man Turkish police dragged through the streets?". France 24. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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