Fatma Hikmet İşmen

Encouraged by Adnan Cemgil, whose son was a militant of an armed underground far-left movement, İşmen joined the Workers Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye İşçi Partisi, TİP) in 1964.^[1][2][3] On 5 June 1966,^[3] she entered the Senate of the Republic representing Kocaeli electoral district as the only senator of TİP,^[3] which was present in the Turkish Grand National Assembly with 15 seats won in the 1965 general elections.^[1][5]

In her first speech in the senate, she accused the Directorate of Religious Affairs of fueling the discrimination of Alawites by the Sunni Islam that sparked a long-lasting controversy in the senate with Justice Party majority. Her parliamentary works were focused on policies of education, agriculture and animal husbandry.^[2][3]

The TİP was banned after the 1971 Turkish military memorandum. She remained alone as socialist representative in the legislature. She resigned after nine years in the senate on 12 October 1975 stating tiredness.^[2][3]

In 1976, she published her autobiography about her time in the Senate under the title Parlamentoda 9 yıl: TİP Senatörü Olarak 1966 – 1975 Dönemi Parlamento Çalışmaları ("9 Years in the Parliament: Parliamentary Works as the Senator of TİP During the Term 1966 – 1975").^[3][6]

In 1991, she co-founded the Socialist Unity Party (Turkish: Sosyalist Birlik Partisi, SBP), and in 1994, she was among the founders of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (Turkish: Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi, ÖDP). She served in the boards of these political parties.^[1][2]

She was the co-founder and a member of the board of trustees of the "Tarih Vakfı" ("The History Foundation").^[7] In 1992, the foundation awarded in her honor the "Fatma Hikmet İşmen Prize for Supporting Research on Marxism" (Turkish: Fatma Hikmet İşmen Marksist Araştırmaları Destekleme Ödülü).^[8]

Fatma Hikmet İşmen died in Istanbul on 9 May 2006.^[1][2][3] Two days later, she was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery following the religious ceremony held at Şişli Mosque.^[9] The funeral attendees sang the left-wing anthem "The Internationale". She was survived by her sister Fikret İşmen Kaygı.^[2] She was never married due to her anti-marriage views.^[2][3]