Discover the Best Books Written by Selahattin Demirtaş

Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973) is a politician, author, and former member of the parliament of Turkey. He was the co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018. Demirtaş was the presidential candidate of the HDP in the 2014 presidential election, coming in third place. He led the HDP to gather 13.1% at the June 2015 parliament elections and 10.7% in the snap elections in November 2015, coming 4th in each election. 

He has been imprisoned since 4 November 2016, and despite his imprisonment, the HDP fielded Demirtaş as its candidate for the 2018 presidential election, running his campaign from prison. In a judgment given in December 2020, the European Court of Human Rights judged that, given "the timing of [Demirtaş] continued detention (coinciding with an important constitutional referendum and the presidential election)" and Turkey's "systemic trend of “gagging” dissenting voices," Demirtaş's continued pre-trial detention's political purpose had been predominant."

Selahattin Demirtaş was born in Palu in 1973, where he completed both his primary and secondary education. In 1991 he studied maritime commerce and management at the Dokuz Eylül University, where he faced political problems that would force him to leave school without finishing his degree. He returned to Diyarbakır and retook the university entrance exam in 1993, after which he enrolled at the Ankara University Law Faculty.

After his graduation, Demirtaş worked as a freelance lawyer for a while. In 2000 he became an executive committee member at the Diyarbakır Human Rights Association (IHD) branch. The IHD Chair at the time was Osman Baydemir, who was elected as the mayor of Diyarbakır at the following local election. Demirtaş replaced him as the chair of the Diyarbakır IHD in 2004. During his term as chair, the association focused heavily on the increasing number of unsolved political murders in Turkey.

Demirtaş is of Zaza origin, and he knows the Zaza language. Demirtaş was asked, "Aren't you Zaza?" in a program. In response to this question, he defined himself as a "Kurdish Zaza". Demirtaş is married to Başak Demirtaş and is the father of two girls, Delal and Dılda. His parents are Tahir and Sadyie Demirtaş, and he has six siblings. Demirtaş faced threats due to his political activity, and on November 22, 2015, he survived an assassination attempt.