Selma Gürkan

Selma Gürkan


Chairwoman of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2011
Preceded by	Abdullah Levent Tüzel

Personal details
Born	1961 (age 62–63) Ankara, Turkey
Political party	Labour Party (EMEP)
Occupation	Politician, unionist

Selma Gürkan (1961) is a Turkish unionist and politician who has been the chairwoman of the Labour Party (EMEP) since 21 May 2011.^[1]

In 2015 Gürkan made a joint statement with Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ addressing the perceived threats to political freedom in advance of the November elections, in which they called for a commitment to democratic rights.^[2]

In February 2018 Gürkan made a speech criticising Turkey's invasion of Afrin, Syria, and was arrested and held under charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda", for which she faces a possible prison sentence of 7 years.^[3] 15 other members of the party were arrested but later released for sharing anti-war in Afrin sentiments through social media posts.^[4] EMEP was itself banned in 2018 from putting up candidates for local election by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK). Gürkan is quoted as saying the move was "totally arbitrary and antidemocratic," and the wider campaign of arrests as a threat to freedom of speech.^[3]

References

^ "Selma Gürkan EMEP Genel Başkanı". Evrensel. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
^ "HDP ve EMEP'ten seçim açıklaması". Habertürk. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^ ^a ^b Sweeney, Steve (22 January 2019). "Leading Turkish communist faces jail for anti-war statement". Morning Star. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^ "EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan's trial posponed [sic] to January". Evrensel. Retrieved 22 January 2019.