Suzan Zengin (1959 – 12 October 2011) was a Turkish journalist, translator and human rights activist. She was detained on accusation of membership in an illegal organization for almost two years.

Early years

Suzan Zengin was born as one of the six children of a family from

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

in 1959. At the age of ten, she went to Germany, where she lived 18 years. During her education there, she was interested in the problems of immigrants. She married Bekir Zengin and gave birth to two children.

Journalist and translator career

Suzan Zengin had been an employee of the "Umut Publishing" since 2003, and a journalist since 2007 for the daily ''İşçi-Köylü Gazetesi'' (literally: "Workers'-Peasants' Newspaper") issued by the same publisher. She was the local representative of the newspaper in

Kartal Kartal () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 38 km2, and its population is 483,418 (2022). It is located on the Asian side of the city, on the coast of the Marmara Sea between Maltepe and Pendik. De ...

Istanbul Province 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 ...

. Zengin was a human rights activist, and worked also for the Human Rights Association of Turkey (İHD). She translated a number of

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

into Turkish language including ''Kıbrıs Elen Edebiyatı'' ("Hellenic Literature of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

"), ''Selanik Öyküleri'' ("Stories of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

"), ''Süryani Halk Öykü ve Türküleri'' ("Stories and Folk Songs of

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

"). During her confinement, she translated the book ''Persecution, Expulsion and Annihilation of the Christian population in the Ottoman Empire, 1912-22'' ("Birinci Dünya Savaşı ve Sonrasında Anadolu Hristiyanlarının Sürgün, Kıyım ve Tasfiyesi") written by the German historian Tessa Hofmann (Savvidis), and made it ready for publication.

Arrest

Zengin was detained in Bakırköy Women's Prison on 29 August 2009 after she was arrested the day before while her residence was raided by police. Her trial began only on 26 August 2010. She was accused of membership in the illegal and armed far-leftist organization TKP/ML TİKKO. She faced a 15-year sentence in prison according to the indictment. In the prison, she contracted health issues, which continuously worsened during her incarceration. She was released from the prison after almost two years on 11 June 2011.

Death

Zengin was treated for her illness, however, her health condition was much advanced. She underwent a cardiac surgery in a hospital for chest diseases in Koşuyolu,

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

due to excessive

vasodilation Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. Blood vessel wa ...

coronary vein The left gastric vein (or coronary vein) is a vein that derives from tributaries draining the lesser curvature of the stomach. Structure The left gastric vein runs from right to left along the lesser curvature of the stomach. It passes to the ...

. She died after 17 days in the intensive care ward at the age of 52 on the night of 12 October 2011. Zengin was buried following a funeral service at a

cemevi A cemevi or cem evi (pronounced and sometimes written as djemevi; meaning literally "a house of gathering" in Turkish) is a place of fundamental importance for Turkey's Alevi- Bektashiyyah tariqa populations. Certain Alevi organizations describ ...

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. It has a population of 288,878 (2022) and a land area of 138 km2 . It is on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coa ...

according to her religious belief of

Alevism Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zengin, Suzan 1959 births Turkish Alevis Turkish women journalists Inmates of Bakırköy Prison for Women Turkish human rights activists 2011 deaths 20th-century Turkish translators People from Sivas