Burçak Poçan, née Özoğlu, (born on January 4, 1970, 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 ( ...

) is a

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and one of the first Turkish women to climb over 8,000 m. Following her graduation from the School of

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

at the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

in Ankara with a BA degree, she earned a MA and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in

labor economics Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as pa ...

from the School of Political Sciences at

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

. Burçak is currently a lecturer at the same university. In 1989, she enlisted in a four-year course for mountaineering during her university time at the Middle East Technical University. She made the first female ascent of the north face of Mount Büyük Demirkazık (3,756 m) in Turkey in 1995. She climbed

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the south ...

(5,642 m) in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

in 1996 and in the same year climbed

Khan Tengri Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to ...

(7,010 m) in the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

range, a height record at the time for a Turkish woman. In 1997, she climbed

Mount Damavand Mount Damavand ( ) is a Volcano#Dormant, dormant stratovolcano and is the highest peak in Iran and Western Asia, the List of volcanoes by elevation, highest volcano in Asia, and the 3rd highest volcano in the Eastern Hemisphere (after Mount K ...

(5,610 m), the highest peak in

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 ...

. She became one of the first Turkish women to climb over 8,000 m when she summited

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...

(8,035 m), the 13th highest peak of the world, via west face along with Eylem Elif Maviş, on July 22, 2005. Burçak took part in the Petrol Ofisi-sponsored Turkish expedition team to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 2006. However, due to throat complaints at 8,600 m, she had to give up the ascent on May 15 and return to advanced base camp for medical aid. She reached the summit on her second attempt on May 24, 2006, along with five other teammates, including two women. Burçak is married to mountaineer Serhan Poçan, who had climbed Mount Everest on the same day as her.

Awards

* 1996 "Mountaineer of the Year" by the Turkish Mountain Climbing Federation

References

Short biography in Turkish

Story of Mt Everest expedition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocan, Burcak 1970 births Middle East Technical University alumni Ankara University alumni Living people Sportspeople from Ankara Turkish mountain climbers Turkish summiters of Mount Everest Turkish sportswomen Turkish female climbers