Salihe Aydeniz (born 1973,

Ergani Ergani (, ), formerly known as Arghni or Arghana, is a municipality and district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,510 km2, and its population is 136,099 (2022). Ergani District is located in the administrative as the Southeastern ...

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 ...

) is a Turkish politician of

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 ...

origin. of the

Democratic Regions Party The Democratic Regions Party (, DBP, , PHD) is a Kurdish political party in the Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called Ea ...

(DBP) and a current member of the

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

. Since November 2019, she is the co-chair of the DBP.

Education and early life

Aydeniz received her primary education in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

and graduated as a nurse from the health institute in

, going on to work as a nurse in

Dargeçit Dargeçit (, , ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 519 km2, and its population is 27,147 (2022). The town is principally populated by Kurds of the Erebiyan tribe. It is located in the historic region of ...

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

. She has presided over the

Trade Union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

of Public Employees in Health and Social Services and been a member of the

Democratic Society Congress The Democratic Society Congress (, ) is a pro-Kurdish NGO favouring the implementation of Democratic Confederalism in Turkish politics. Its foundation congress was held on 26–29 October 2007. Structure It has 2 co-chairs, a chairman and a ch ...

(DTK).

Political career

Aydeniz was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing the HDP for

in the Parliamentary Election in June 2018. On 30 November 2019, she assumed as a Co-Chair of HDPs sister-party, the DBP, following which she left the HDP. With her membership of the DBP, the party became the tenth party represented in the Turkish parliament. As an MP she is a proponent of a political solution to the Kurdish-Turkish conflict and has said that the Turkish opposition should take a more constructive approach to Kurdish demands in relation to

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

and culture. She rarely goes to

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 ( ...

, saying that little can be achieved there: the questions on the human rights situation 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 ...

that are submitted to parliament seldom meet with an answer. In the

2023 Turkish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Turkey on 14 May 2023, alongside presidential elections, to elect all 600 members of the Grand National Assembly. The incoming members formed the 28th Parliament of Turkey. The elections had originally been ...

she was elected in

Legal prosecution

After a march in support of

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

, the leader of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK) in

Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

, she punched a police officer while the officer was only standing. After that she was accused of having pushed a police officer and taking part in a march without permission following which a motion was prepared to end her legislative immunity.

Personal life

She is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aydeniz, Saliha 1973 births Living people People from Ergani Turkish nurses Turkish women nurses Turkish Kurdish politicians Turkish Kurdish women Democratic Regions Party politicians Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Diyarbakır Deputies of Mardin 21st-century Turkish women politicians Turkish women MPs Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians