Sevda Karaca Demir (born, 1984,

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

, Turkey) is a journalist and politician of the

Hoxhaist Hoxhaism ( , ) is a variant of Marxism–Leninism developed in the late 1970s as a result of a schism in the anti-revisionist movement, namely between the Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labour of Albania. The ideological dispute bet ...

Labour Party (EMEP). Since June 2023 she is a 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 ...

representing

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

. Before she was a journalist for the newspaper

Evrensel ''Evrensel'' () is a Turkish daily newspaper. History and profile ''Evrensel'' was founded on 7 June 1995. The issues captured and written are from a socialist perspective. The paper is different from other Turkish newspapers in that it present ...

Early life and education

Sevda Karaca was born in 1984 in Adana, as the daughter of a textile workers family. She studied political sciences at the Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTÜ) and was tempted by journalism.

Professional career

In 2007, Sevda Karaca began as a journalist for Evrensel and was also involved in founding Hayat TV. For Hayat TV, Karaca was a reporter from

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 ( ...

. She also became the presenter of the show Ekmek ve Gül that focuses on the women's workers rights. In 2010 she established a women's supplement to the Evrensel also called Ekmek ve Gül. In 2016, Hayat TV was shut down in the aftermath of the attempted coup d'état in 2016. In 2018 she received the Metin Göktepe journalism award. in 2021, she was a member of the jury for the Metin Göktepe award.

Political career

In the parliamentary elections of May 2023, she was elected into the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing the

Green Left Party Party of Greens and the Left Future (, YSGP), abbreviated as Green Left Party (, YSP), is a Green politics, green and left-libertarian party in Turkey. History The first YSP was founded on 25 November 2012 as a merger of the Greens Party (Tur ...

(YSP) for Gaziantep.

Political positions

As a politician from Gaziantep, she defends workers rights. In July 2023 she raised awareness about the situations of two workers from a factory owned by İrfan Çeliksan'','' an MP for the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP). The workers were allegedly forced to work despite being diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and subsequently died. The court suspended the investigation into their deaths due to the

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

that protects Çeliksan. Sevda Karaca believes the elections in 2023 were not fair as the Governing alliance used state resources in their electoral campaign. After the parliamentary elections she demanded a repetition of the elections in the Gaziantep province as around 2000 potential voters for the EMEP were inscribed as polling officials by the Patriotic Party without having informed them.{{Cite web , date=2023-05-18 , title=YSP's request to renew elections in Gaziantep rejected , url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/ysps-request-to-renew-elections-in-gaziantep-rejected-news-62433 , access-date=2023-07-20 , website=

Gazete Duvar Duvar was an online news portal which focuses mainly on Turkish politics. Duvar's headquarters are located in Sariyer Istanbul. History It was founded in 2016 by Vedat Zencir, the first conscientious objector in Turkey. Its current editor-i ...

, language=tr-TR

References

1984 births Turkish journalists Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey 21st-century Turkish women politicians Turkish television presenters Living people Turkish women MPs Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians