Nilüfer Elik Yılmaz
Nilüfer Elik Yılmaz (born 1962, Mardin, Turkey) is a Turkish politician and a former member of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Mayor of Kiziltepe for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Nilüfer Elik Yılmaz | |
---|---|
Mayor of Kızıltepe | |
In office March 2019 – November 2019 | |
Succeeded by | Hüseyin Cam |
Personal details | |
Born | 1962 Mardin |
Political party | Peoples' Democratic Party |
Education
Nilüfer Elik Yılmaz received her primary and secondary education and attended high school in Kiziltepe.[1] Following, she began to study economics at the Anadolu University in Eskisehir, but did not graduate.[1]
Political career
She was a member of the women's assembly of the BDP.[1] Additionally she took a seat in the disciplinary council of the parties Madrid branch.[1] In the local elections in March 2019, she was elected as a mayor of Kiziltepe for the HDP with more than 70% of the voter-share.[2][3] During her tenure, the municipality supported the local football club.[4] She was dismissed from office in November 2019[3] on grounds of her activities in the Democratic Society Congress (DTK)[1] which was viewed as an indication of a membership in the forbidden Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[5] The ministry of the interior replaced her with the state appointed trustee Hüseyin Cam, who assumed as an acting mayor in her stead.[6][7] The same months, she was arrested and imprisoned in prison in Mardin.[1] Later she was transferred into a prison in Tarsus.[8] On the 17 March 2021, the state prosecutor Bekir Şahin demanded for her and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban to a political activity together with a closure of the HDP due to organizational links with the PKK.[9]
References
- "HDP's Kızıltepe District Co-Mayor Nilüfer Elik Yılmaz Arrested". Bianet. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- Şafak, Yeni (2021-12-29). "Mardin Kızıltepe Seçim Sonuçları – Kızıltepe Yerel Seçim Sonuçları". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- Schneider, Anna-Sophie (2019-11-06). "Kurdische Bürgermeister in der Türkei verlieren ihr Amt - und oft ihre Freiheit". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- "Mayor accuses Kızıltepe football team of being PKK members, cuts financial support". Gazete Duvar. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- "Mayor of Mardin's Kızıltepe district dismissed from duty over terror investigation - Turkey News". Hürriyet. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- "Hüseyin Çam kimdir? Kızıltepe Belediyesi kayyum ataması son dakika - Yeni Akit". www.yeniakit.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- "Turkey removes 15th pro-Kurdish mayor since March over alleged terror links". ipa news. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- Oke, Naz (2020-01-08). "Prisoner deportations, the common practice in Turkey". Kedistan. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- "HDP indictment seeks political ban for 687 members, including Demirtaş, Buldan and Sancar". Bianet. 17 March 2021.