Ceyda Sungur, also known as Kırmızılı Kadın ( English: ''Woman in Red''), is a Turkish

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Life

She was born in 1986. After completing her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

, she has started to work as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

at the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

Case of police brutality

In May 2013, she participated in the

Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting ...

Istanbul 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 ...

, and volunteered at an improvised field hospital. During the demonstrations, she was attacked by a police officer named Fatih Zengin. When a photo journalist from the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

— Osman Orsal— photographed the moment that Sungur was subject of the

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

, a huge reaction was sparked both in the Turkish and the international public. Subsequently she became a symbol to the protests. Zengin was sued by prosecutors who pressed for a three-year prison sentence for advertently using disproportionate force against civilians. Sungur pleaded at the court that "if the accused had a weapon, he would have kill me like another police officer who had murdered Ethem Sarısülük". After a year, the trial was concluded and Zengin was sentenced to plant 600 saplings in consequence of that he sprayed tear gas at close range and abused his power. Moreover, another lawsuit that had been filed against Sungur on the charge of "inciting the public to disobey the law" was also dismissed.

In popular culture

Books

* Turkish-Italian film director

Ferzan Özpetek Ferzan Özpetek (, ; born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy since 1978. Biography Ferzan Özpetek was born in Istanbul in 1959. In 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History ...

wrote a book named ''

Red Istanbul ''Red Istanbul'' (, ) is a 2017 drama film directed by Ferzan Özpetek, based on the novel written by Özpetek, published in 2013. The film was shot in Turkish language with a cast composed entirely of Turkish actors, 16 years after his second wo ...

'' ("İstanbul Kırmızısı") inspired by the discourse and image of the "Woman in Red". * Gürsel Öncü, who had been the current editor of the '' Tarih'' journal that was closed during the Gezi protests, wrote the book ''Yaşarken Yazılan Tarih'' and a picture of Ceyda Sungur and the police officer was used as the cover image.

Magazines

* Brazil-based culture journal ''

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

'' featured an illustration describing the "Woman in Red" holding the flag of Brazil as the cover image of the July 2013 issue in response to the public uprisings in Brazil at the same time with the Gezi protests. Also, the "#direngezi" hashtag appeared at the bottom of the cover. * Turkey-based humour magazine ''

Penguen ''Penguen'' () was a satirical magazine published in Turkey and distributed also to Northern Cyprus. History and profile ''Penguen'' was founded in 2002 by Metin Üstündağ, Selçuk Erdem, Erdil Yaşaroğlu and Bahadır Baruter.Fazıla Ma ...

'' depicted the "Woman in Red" spraying pepper gas towards a police officer as the cover image of the July 2013 issue and released a caption that "The demonstrators attacked the police!". This work was shown among the "most creative humor magazine covers of 2013".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sungur, Ceyda Living people 1986 births Turkish activists Academic staff of Istanbul Technical University Gezi Park protests Police brutality in Turkey