Kurdish politician Aysel Doğan dies in exile

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Kurdish politician Aysel Doğan, 69, lost her life yesterday (May 11) in Germany, where she was in exile and receiving cancer treatment.

Incarcerated several times due to her political activities, Doğan spent 17 years of her life in prison, where she was diagnosed with cancer.

She was released in 2015 because of her deteriorating health and moved to Germany before receiving a prison sentence once again.

She participated in the 1991 parliamentary elections as an independent candidate from her hometown, Dersim, and got the highest share of the votes. But she was not mandated because of the Election Law.

Having taken refuge in Europe, she was among what was called the "Second Peace Group," a group of Kurdish political refugees who returned to Turkey upon a call from Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

All of the members of the group were arrested after entering the country and eventually received prison sentences of 7 to 15 years.

Doğan was released after 10 years in prison and founded the Dersim Academy of Alevi Belief and Culture.

She was arrested once again in September 2011 in an investigation into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), a parent group of the PKK.

Sentenced to 18 years in prison, she participated in the 2012 hunger strikes against the "isolation" of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK.

After the Specially Authorized Heavy Penal Courts were abolished, the Court of Cassation reversed the verdict and ruled for a retrial.

Handed a prison sentence after the retrial, she once again left the country and lost her life in Germany. (EMK/VK)