Rezan Zuğurlu

Rezan Zuğurlu is the current mayor of the Turkish district of Lice in Diyarbakır Province. She is a member of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). She is a former political prisoner, who at the age of 25, became the youngest mayor in Turkey,^[1] winning over 90% of the votes.^[2] She assumed office in April 2014,^[3] after winning the election in March 2014.^[4]

Zuğurlu was among several female mayor candidates fielded by the party at that time, which also included 27-year-old Leyla Imret, who was elected as in Cizre, in Şırnak province.^[3]

Arrest and imprisonment

At the age of 22, Zuğurlu protested in solidarity with several Kurdish prisoners which resulted in her getting arrested and sentenced to a 13-month prison term for alleged stone throwing. Two years after being released from prison, in March 2014, she ran for public office, for the post of mayor. She stated that the jail cells sometimes housed up to 45 women, some of them teenagers, with the majority being Kurds. Zuğurlu spent eight months in the Diyarbakır Prison, a notorious place of torture. She dreamed of entering politics while serving her jail term.^[1]

Personal life

Zuğurlu was born into a family of Kurdish activists and grew up in southeastern Turkey during an armed uprising for political rights among the Kurdish people. She considers herself a feminist and hopes her position as mayor would help better the lives of women in the district. She stated that she gets a feeling of solidarity with Berivan Elif Kilic, Mayor of the town of Kocakoy, who was married off at the age of 15 into an abusive household, as well as Gultan Kisanak, female mayor of Diyarbakir. She is a student of Radio and Television Broadcasting and attends night-school after her day's work.^[1]

References