Selahattin Demirtaş
Turkish politician of Kurdish origin. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973) is a Turkish politician and author of Kurdish origin.[1] He was the co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018.[2] Selahattin Demirtaş announced that he left politics after the May 2023 elections.[3]
Selahattin Demirtaş | |
---|---|
Chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party | |
In office 22 June 2014 – 11 February 2018 | |
Preceded by | Ertuğrul Kürkçü |
Succeeded by | Sezai Temelli |
Co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party | |
In office 1 February 2010 – 22 April 2014 | |
Preceded by | Mustafa Ayzit Demir Çelik |
Succeeded by | Party abolished See Democratic Regions Party |
Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
In office 22 July 2007 – 7 July 2018 | |
Constituency | Diyarbakır (2007) Hakkari (2011) Istanbul (I) Jun 2015, Nov 2015 |
Personal details | |
Born | (1973-04-10) 10 April 1973 (age 51) Palu, Elazığ, Turkey |
Political party | Democratic Society Party (Before 2008) Peace and Democracy Party (2008–2014) Peoples' Democratic Party (2014–2020) |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Nurettin Demirtaş (brother) |
Alma mater | Ankara University |
Demirtaş was the presidential candidate of the HDP in the 2014 presidential election, coming in third place. He led the HDP to gather 13.1% at the June 2015 parliament elections and 10.7% in the snap elections in November 2015, coming 4th in each election. He has been imprisoned since 4 November 2016 and despite his imprisonment the HDP fielded Demirtaş as its candidate for the 2018 presidential election, running his campaign from prison.[4]
In a judgement given in December 2020, the European Court of Human Rights judged that, given "the timing of [Demirtaş] continued detention (coinciding with an important constitutional referendum and the presidential election)" and Turkey's "systemic trend of “gagging” dissenting voices", Demirtaş's continued pre-trial detention's political purpose had been predominant".[5]