Education
He attended law school in Istanbul, graduating in 1984.
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Sezgin Tanrikulu
Edit Profilehuman rights activist politician
Career
He is currently serving as an Member of Parliament in the Turkish Grand Assembly with the Republican People"s Party (CHP). Tanrıkulu is from the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, Turkey. When he returned to Diyarbakır, he found it under emergency rule by the Turkish government and its mayor Mehdi Zana, husband of politician Leyla Zana, charged with separatism.
Tanrıkulu became involved in Zana"s case and soon became a full-time human rights lawyer
He was indicted several times for his legal activities. In 1994, he was charged with "insulting the judiciary" after he appealed a conviction that had relied on a statement extracted by torture.
From 1990 to 1995, six of his friends and colleagues were murdered for their work on human rights cases.
Achievements
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He is the co-founder of the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association and the Turkish Kurdistan representative of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. In 1997, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, along with fellow attorney Senal Sarihan An award given each year to an individual whose courageous activism is at the heart of the human rights movement and in the spirit of Robert F. Kennedy"s vision and legacy.
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Born
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Nationality
Turkey -
Political Party
Republican People"s Party