CHP MP Şafak Pavey Resigns Her Seat

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Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Şafak Pavey announced that she has resigned her seat as a MP due to health problems on Saturday (September 16).

Announcing her resignation through a written statement, Pavey said:

"Since I entered into politics in 2011, I have done my best to fulfill my responsibilities for our electors. Throughout the years in busy pace, I have often ignored the emerging health problems. But at this point, I have decided to resign my seat as an MP as it is no longer possible to postpone these issues for me".

Parliament to assess Pavey's Resignation

Pavey's resignation will be assessed in the parliament.

According to Hürriyet daily, CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu tried to talk Pavey out of resigning and would not accept her resignation.

About Şafak Pavey

Şafak Pavey, born on July 10, 1976, is a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) representing İstanbul Province. She is the first disabled woman (due to a train accident she had whilst studying art and film in Zurich left her with one arm and leg) ever elected to the Turkish parliament, and is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Between 2003 and 2010, Pavey worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees both at the HQs and on humanitarian missions in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Central Europe. Undertaking missions and assignments in countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Hungary, she dealt with different human displacement situations, holding various positions from being a consultant on child rights, education and gender programs to serving as the regional spokesperson and managing global strategic communications. She has also worked as a peace solutions activist in a number of conflict areas including Afghanistan.

Şafak Pavey is a founding member of the UN interagency support group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN IASG for CRPD). In 2010, she was appointed as the Secretary to the CRPD Secretariat at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

She left her position at the United Nations and was elected as Deputy of Istanbul at the 2011 elections in Turkey. As part of her parliamentary work, she is a member of the Turkey-EU-Accession Committee, EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean Union, Euro-Med Sub-Committee on Energy, Water and Environment, Vice-Chair and Member of Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Groups with South Korea and Norway.

Pavey's academic background include graduate & postgraduate degrees in international relations and the EU studies, specializing in "nationalism, ethnicity and minority rights" particularly "Property Rights of Non-Muslims in Islamic Countries" at the London School of Economics, and arts, film and media studies in Switzerland. Her working languages are Turkish, English, French, Italian and at a basic level Farsi, German. She also uses international sign language. She worked as a translator, independent journalist and documentary film-maker for a number of international broadcast and print media companies. She was Turkey's first columnist of bilingual Armenian-Turkish Agos newspaper.

Up to date, Şafak Pavey has published three books. Her latest book Nereye Gidersem Gokyuzu Benimdir (Wherever I go the Sky is Mine) published in November 2011, consists of her recollections of social life and a witness account of social freedoms in Iran where she lived for some years. Safak is also the managerial editor of a legal book "Refugee Rights in Iran" by 2003 Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi with whom she worked with for several years. In different capacities, Safak is affiliated with a number of international civil society & knowledge platforms related to human rights, disability, accessibility and universal / inclusive design. She received various national and international awards for her work and contributions in the field of peace and human rights. Recently, she has been honoured with the "2011-The Outstanding Young Person of the World Award" by JCI (Junior Chamber International) and the 2012 'International Woman of Courage Award' by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama. (EA/DG)