Sezgin Tanrıkulu
| Sezgin Tanrikulu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Diyarbakir, Turkey |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Occupation | lawyer |
| Organization | Diyarbakir Human Rights Association |
| Known for | advocacy for Kurdish rights |
| Awards | Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1997) |
Sezgin Tanrıkulu is a Turkish human rights lawyer known for his defense of the rights of Kurdish citizens. He is currently serving as an MP in the Turkish Grand Assembly with the Republican People's Party (CHP).[1]
Tanrikulu is from the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Turkey. He attended law school in Istanbul, graduating in 1984. When he returned to Diyarbakir, he found it under emergency rule by the Turkish government and its mayor Mehdi Zana, husband of politician Leyla Zana, charged with separatism. Tanrikulu became involved in Zana's case and soon became a full-time human rights lawyer.[2]
He is the co-founder of the Diyarbakir Human Rights Association and the Turkish Kurdistan representative of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. He was indicted several times for his legal activities. In 1994, he was charged with "insulting the judiciary" after he appealed a conviction that had relied on a statement extracted by torture. From 1990 to 1995, six of his friends and colleagues were murdered for their work on human rights cases.[2]
In 1997, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, along with fellow attorney Senal Sarihan.[2]
References
- ↑ http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/develop/owa/milletvekillerimiz_sd.bilgi?p_donem=24&p_sicil=6908
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Sezgin Tanrikulu". Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
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