Sevilay Çelenk Özen

Sevilay Çelenk Özen (born 1967,[1] Maden, Turkey) is an academic and politician, an Academic for Peace and a member of the Green Left Party (YSP). Since June 2023, she is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing Diyarbakir for the YSP. Before she was a staff member of the Ankara University.[2]

Early life and education

She was born in Maden in 1967, the hometown from her mother.[3] Shortly after the family moved to Diyarbakir, the hometown from her father.[3] Following she was raised in Diyarbakir.[3] She graduated with a doctarate in communications from the Ankara University in 2003.[2]

Professional career

Between 2007 and 2009, she was a lecturer and visiting scholar at the Baltic Film and Media School of the Tallinn University in Estonia.[2] Later, she was a member of the faculty staff of the Department of Communications in the Ankara University.[2] In this capacity, she prepared a report on the death of a protester by a police officer in 2013 on request from the prosecution.[4] In 2012, she was the President of the Ankara University Political Science alumni Association.[5] She has published a variety of books on media and communications and is a Honorary Adjunct Research Professor at the Carleton University, Canada.[2]

Political career

She joined the Academics for Peace and was a signatory of their petition "We will not be a party to this crime!" in early 2016.[6][7] A week before she signed the petition, she applied for a full professorship at the Ankara University, but was denied for signing the petition.[8] Eventually she was dismissed from the Ankara University on the 6 January 2017 for supporting terrorism.[8] Following she provided students with lectures in a park in Ankara.[9][10] In 2019, she was acquitted of terror propaganda from the Constitutional Court, but was not reinstated at the Ankara University due to concerns of the State of Emergency Commission.[7] In the parliamentary elections of May 2023, she was elected into the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing Diyarbakir for the YSP.[11]

References

  1. ^ "YSP Diyarbakır Milletvekili adayı Sevilay Çelenk Özen kimdir?". Amida Haber (in Turkish). 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Sevilay Çelenk". carleton.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  3. ^ a b c "Sevilay Celenk: There has been an attempt to erase "peace" from our vocabulary". Gercek News. 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  4. ^ "Tensions Rise in Sarısülük Trial, Hearing Postponed". Bianet. 23 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Support for Arrested KESK Women". Bianet. 17 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Election Diaries – 6: Education system, another political battleground". Medya News. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  7. ^ a b "SoE Commission refuses to reinstate Academics for Peace despite Constitutional Court ruling". Bianet. 12 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Repression of Ankara University Rector". Middle East Studies Association. 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  9. ^ "Sacked Turkish academics take protest to the streets". RFI. 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  10. ^ Pamuk, Hümeyra (2017-03-01). "Purge of academics leaves future of Turkish universities in doubt". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  11. ^ "Diyarbakır Seçim Sonuçları - 2023 Genel Seçim Diyarbakır Oy Oranları | CANLI". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). 2023-08-06. Retrieved 2023-06-08.