Ebru Günay

Ebru Güney studied law at the Dicle University, from which she graduated in 2006.^[1] Following she worked at the Asrin Law Firm, and was involved in the defense of Abdullah Öcalan.^[2] She also obtained an MSc in human rights law from the Bilgi University in Istanbul.^[3]

Ebru Güney was arrested due to an investigation into the activities of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in 2009 and prosecuted during the KCK-trial^[2] in which the defendants were accused of supporting a terrorist organization.^[4] She was released pending trial after five years in April 2014.^[1] In September 2019, the Turkish Supreme Appeals court confirmed her acquittal in the KCK main case in which initially more than 150 people were prosecuted.^[4]

Ebru Güney was elected to the Turkish Parliament representing the HDP for Mardin in the parliamentary elections of June 2018^[5] and is the current spokeswoman for the HDP.^[6] She supports that Kurds can be educated in their native language if they wish and condemns the Turkish denial of Kurds.^[7]

Ebru Güney declared the HDPs opposition to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denial of Selahattin Demirtaş' release from prison^[8] or called for snap elections in October 2020.^[9] Following the widely perceived You Tube revelations [tr] by the Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker in June 2021, she demanded an investigation into the depopulation policy against the Kurds in the 1990s.^[10]

Ebru Güney and fellow HDP MP Garo Paylan toured several countries in South America in August 2019 and also met the president of the Mercosur Parliament.^[11] In September 2020, she took part in the negotiations with representatives of the European Union regarding the human rights situation in Turkey.^[12]