Sakine Cansız: Difference between revisions
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'''Sakine Cansiz''' (died 10 January 2013) was one of the co-founders of the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (or PKK). A Kurdish activist in the 1980s, she had been [[Torture in Turkey|arrested and tortured]] by Turkish police. She was a close associate of [[Abdullah Öcalan]] and is described as a legend in the PKK,<ref name="Letsch"/> and was found shot dead in Paris, France, on 10 January 2013, with two other Kurdish activists.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20968375|title=Kurdish PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz shot dead in Paris|date=10 January 2013|work=[[BBC Online]]|accessdate=10 January 2013}}</ref> |
'''Sakine Cansiz'''{{fact}} (died 10 January 2013) was one of the co-founders of the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (or PKK). A Kurdish activist in the 1980s, she had been [[Torture in Turkey|arrested and tortured]] by Turkish police. She was a close associate of [[Abdullah Öcalan]] and is described as a legend in the PKK,<ref name="Letsch"/> and was found shot dead in Paris, France, on 10 January 2013, with two other Kurdish activists.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20968375|title=Kurdish PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz shot dead in Paris|date=10 January 2013|work=[[BBC Online]]|accessdate=10 January 2013}}</ref> |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Revision as of 18:58, 11 January 2013
Sakine Cansiz[citation needed] (died 10 January 2013) was one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (or PKK). A Kurdish activist in the 1980s, she had been arrested and tortured by Turkish police. She was a close associate of Abdullah Öcalan and is described as a legend in the PKK,[1] and was found shot dead in Paris, France, on 10 January 2013, with two other Kurdish activists.[2]
Biography
Cansiz hails from Tunceli, a city in east-central Turkey. She was arrested in 1979, soon after graduating high school[3] (according to The Guardian, she was arrested just after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état[1]). She was one of the PKK's founding members (code name "Sara"), and the organization's first senior female member.[3] At the founding meeting of the PKK (with 22 persons attending) in late September 1978, she represented Elâzığ, the administrative center of Elâzığ Province.[4] She was detained in the 1980s in Diyarbakır Prison and tortured there, but continued to lead the Kurdish movement while in jail, becoming a "legend amongst PKK members".[1] She joined Öcalan in the Beqaa Valley, after her release. She was one of the leaders of the Kurdish women's guerrilla movement in northern Iraq[2]; women at the time made up one-third of the PKK's total armed membership. Reportedly, "She was the most prominent and most important female Kurdish activist. She did not shy away from speaking her mind, especially when it came to women's issues".[1] Murat Karayılan sent her to Europe[1] to be a more political activist responsible for the PKK's European branch,[2] first in Germany and then in France.[1] According to Hürriyet, she was moved to Europe after having opposed the execution of PKK member Mehmet Şener. Reportedly, she also disagreed with Zübeyir Yılmaz, the alleged financial head of the PKK, with claims made in the Turkish media that he had sexually harassed her.[3] France granted Cansız asylum in 1998.[5]
Death
On 10 January 2013, Cansiz was killed along with two other Kurdish female activists.[2] The bodies were found in the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris.[5] The killings occurred at a time when the Turkish government was in negotiation with PKK leaders including Öcalan; PKK activists in Paris considered the murders an attempt by "dark forces" within the Turkish government to derail these negotiations. Turkish officials pointed at frequent strife within the PKK,[6] with Turkish national daily Hürriyet reporting that Cansiz had been in conflict with Ferman Hussein, a Syrian national and the alleged commander of the PKK's military wing.[3] Killed also were Fidan Doğan of the Kurdistan National Congress (based in Brussels) and Leyla Söylemez, a "junior activist"; the French interior minister announced all were killed execution style.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Letsch, Constanze (10 January 2013). "Sakine Cansiz: 'a legend among PKK members'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Kurdish PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz shot dead in Paris". BBC Online. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Three PKK members killed in Paris attack". Hürriyet. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ Jongerden, Joost; Akkaya, Ahmet Hamdi (2011). "The Making of the PKK". In Marlies Casier (ed.). Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism, and the Kurdish Issue. Joost Jongerden. Taylor & Francis. p. 136. ISBN 9780415583459. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ a b Elaine Ganley; Suzan Fraser (10 January 2013). "PKK Executions In Paris". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ Morris, Harvey (10 January 2013). "Theories Link Paris Murders to Kurdish Peace Moves". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ Memmott, Mark (10 January 2013). "Three Kurdish Activists Found Dead In Paris; 'Without Doubt An Execution'". NPR. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
