Şafak Pavey (born 10 July 1976) is a Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician. She was a member of the

Turkish Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

from the main opposition

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) representing

Istanbul Province Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. She is the first disabled woman ever elected to the Turkish parliament, and is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 1996, before she turned 20, her left arm and left leg were

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is ...

after a train accident in Switzerland. In 2012, Pavey was honored by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

with the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

. She announced her resignation as a member of parliament on 15 September 2017, citing health reasons. The resignation took effect on 25 October 2017.

Early life and education

Pavey was born on 10 July 1976 in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

to Şahin Baştürk and Ayşe Önal, a well-known journalist and writer. In 1994, she moved to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

with her husband to study art and film. On 24 May 1996, Pavey was on a train in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

when an accident occurred. She was critically injured, according to her husband. Pavey's left arm and left leg were

and she nearly died from the injuries. Pavey was conscious after the train accident. It was before her 20th birthday. One year later, she went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to pursue her education. She studied international relations at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

and completed her post-graduate studies at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

Career

Pavey served in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, being responsible for external relations and humanitarian aid in countries such as

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and Syria. She worked as the spokesperson of UNHCR for Central Europe in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and later as the head of human rights treaty body secretariat at the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

Safak Pavey with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Michelle Obama at 2012 IWOC Award

She was a columnist for the Istanbul-based Armenian-Turkish bilingual weekly ''

Agos ''Agos'' (in Armenian: Ակօս, " furrow") is a bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 25 February 1996 by Hrant Dink, Luiz Bakar, Harutyun Şeşetyan, and Anna Turay. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turki ...

'', and has authored three books. She carried out joint projects with Harvard University, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Norwegian Design Council on inclusive/universal design and displaced persons. The book ''13 Numarali Peron'' (Platform Number 13) narrating the train accident experience, written jointly by her mother Ayşe Önal and Pavey herself, became a best-seller in Turkey. She collaborated with author and Nobel Peace Laureate

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

on the book "Refugee Rights in Iran". After fifteen years living abroad, Pavey returned to Turkey in 2011 and ran for a parliament seat. She left her position at the United Nations in 2012 and was elected as Deputy of Istanbul Province for the Republican People's Party, becoming the first disabled female member of the Turkish Parliament. As part of her parliamentary work, she is a member of the Turkey-EU-Accession Committee, the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean Union, the Euro-Med Sub-Committee on Energy, Water and Environment, and vice-chair and Member of the Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Groups with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. She was subsequently appointed as one of the CHP's deputy chairpersons, responsible for environmental and social policy. She is an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

Honors

* International Woman of Courage by the US Department of State * Outstanding Young Person of the World Award by the

Junior Chamber International Junior Chamber International, commonly referred to as JCI, is a non-profit international non-governmental organization of young people between and years old. It has members in about 127 countries, and regional or national organizations in mo ...

* Secularist of the Year 2014 by the UK National Secular Society

Family

According to ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'' newspaper, Şafak Pavey's mother is a cousin of Deniz Gezmiş, the Turkish political activist of the late 1960s.Mukaddes Gezmiş son yolculuğuna uğurlandı
''Hürriyet''. (in Turkish)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavey, Safak 1976 births Politicians from Ankara Alumni of the University of Westminster Alumni of the London School of Economics Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Turkish women journalists Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Turkish officials of the United Nations Living people Deputies of Istanbul Politicians with disabilities Turkish amputees Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Deputy speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award 21st-century Turkish women politicians 21st-century Turkish journalists Women legislative deputy speakers Journalists from Ankara Turkish politicians with disabilities Turkish women MPs