Rojda Nazlıer is a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

politician of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She was elected as the mayor of

Kocaköy Kocaköy (; ) is a municipality and district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 248 km2, and its population is 15,355 (2022). It is populated by Kurds. Politics In the local elections in March 2019 Rojda Nazlıer was elected may ...

, in March 2019 but was removed from her post in October 2019 on grounds of an investigation in terrorism related charges.

Early life and education

Rojda Nazlıer was born in

Lice Louse (: lice) is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order, until a 2021 genetic study determined th ...

in the Diyarbakir province, where she attended primary and secondary school. Before becoming mayor, she worked for several Non Governmental Organizations focused on women related issues.

Political career

She was elected the mayor of the Kocaköy in the municipal elections of March 2019. After an investigation on terror-related charges was opened, she was dismissed by the Turkish Ministry of the Interior on 21 October 2020 and a state-appointed trustee assumed the post of an acting mayor. In her trial, testimonies of

secret witness A secret witness (or anonymous witness) is a witness which is granted anonymity in a trial by the juridical authority. The identity of the witness is not disclosed to the defendant and the general public except if the secret witness agrees to it. I ...

es who accused her of being a member of the

People's Defence Forces The People's Defence Forces (, HPG) was the military wing of the group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). During the 7th Congress of the PKK in January 2000, the HPG replaced the former military wing of the PKK, the People's Liberation Army of Ku ...

(HPG) and allegedly having transformed the buildings in her possession into centers of the HPG were taken into account. Besides, she was accused of having attended the

Newroz Newroz () is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 20 is the main symbol of Newroz among the Kurds. In Zoroastrianism, fire i ...

festivities and having taken part in a memorial service for the

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

r Zülküf Hezen. In October 2019, she was transferred from a women's prison in Diyarbakir in

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () is the southeastern part of Turkey where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of them in the ...

, to the women's prison of

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

in the centre of

. On 14 December 2020, she was sentenced to nine years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organization. On the 17 March 2021, the State Prosecutor for the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

in Turkey

Bekir Şahin Bekir Şahin (born 1 March 1960, Mecitözü, Turkey) is a jurist, former judge and the current State Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation in Turkey. Education He was educated at the Imam Hatip school and studied law at the Dokuz Eylül Univer ...

filed a lawsuit before the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

, demanded for Nazlıer a five-year ban for a political participation within the HDP closure case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazlier, Rojda Turkish Kurdish women Women mayors of places in Turkey Mayors of places in Turkey People expelled from public office 21st-century Kurdish politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Turkish politicians 21st-century Turkish women politicians People from Lice, Turkey Kurdish women in politics 21st-century Kurdish women