Profile: Who is Sırrı Süreyya Önder, the pro-Kurdish politician shaped by activism, labor and cinema?
Socialist politician, musician, screenwriter, director and writer.
In 1978, Önder was imprisoned at the age of 16 for protesting the Maraş Massacre, and his life is a powerful testimony to Turkey's recent history.
On Dec 17, 2010, in the documentary Memleket İsterim - Aydınların Gözüyle Türkiye (I Want a Homeland - Turkey Through the Eyes of Intellectuals), broadcast on TRT, he describes socialism as “We used to have a half-joking definition of socialism. We used to say 'Socialism is eating figs at fig time', but 'Everyone eating figs at fig time'. I used to care a lot about this fig, I didn't understand the meaning of its timing. Now the world has taught us the value of eating something on time, and the necessity of everyone eating it.”
Early life
He was born on Jul 7, 1962 in Adıyaman to a Turkmen family.
His father, Ziya Önder, was one of the founders and a provincial chair of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) in Adıyaman in the 1960s. After losing his father at a young age, Önder moved with his family to live with his grandfather. He supported his family by working in various jobs such as apprenticing as a photographer.
After graduating from Adıyaman High School, he entered Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences; however, he interrupted his education during the 1980 coup. He was then arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
During his youth, he spent seven years in Ankara's Mamak, Ulucanlar and Haymana prisons. Önder was tortured in prison and participated in hunger strikes.
After his release in 1987, he continued to work in various jobs. He worked as a seasonal agricultural worker, tire repairman, construction worker and long-distance truck driver among other odd jobs.
Filmmaker
In 2003, after watching Yılmaz Güney's film Duvar (The Wall), he attended Barış Pirhasan's script workshop and started his career in cinema.
As a filmmaker, he attracted widespread attention, especially with his 2006 film Beynelmilel (The International). Winner of the 2007 Adana International Golden Boll Film Festival's Best Film Award, the film depicts the coup period in a satirical way and also contains references to Önder's own youth.
The film also stars Önder's brother, who works in a barber shop to support him and his family financially while Önder is in prison.
Trailer of Beynelmilel:
Önder has also worked as screenwriter, director or actor in productions such as O... Çocukları (2008), F Tipi Film (2012) and İtirazım Var (2014). He acted in films such as Sis ve Gece and Yeraltı.
Until 2011, he wrote memorable columns in Radikal newspaper, emphasizing the importance of social memory and solidarity. After becoming an MP, he continued to write columns for a while, but not regularly.
Politician
Involved in politics from a young age, he entered national politics in 2011 when he was elected as an İstanbul MP following an invitation from the Labor, Democracy and Freedom Bloc, led by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Since then, he has become a prominent figure in the pro-Kurdish political movement and has earned respect across the political landscape for his wit and distinctive style.
After 2013, as an MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the successor of the BDP.
During the 2013 Gezi Park protests, footage of him stepping in front of a construction machine to protect the park and its trees from being uprooted resonated across Turkey. He was injured by police during in the park.
In the same year, he took part in the İmralı Delegation during the resolution process to the Kurdish question and held talks with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. During the Newroz celebrations that year, he read out Öcalan's message to a crowd of millions in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır.
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A few years later, afer the peace process failed, Önder stood trial on charges of “terrorist organization propaganda” for reading out the message and was eventually sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. He was released in 2019 after the Constitutional Court ruled that his freedom of expression had been violated.
In 2023, he was elected as an İstanbul MP from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and was appointed as Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
He took part in the second İmralı Delegation as part of the currently ongoing new peace initiative.
Önder underwent surgery in İstanbul on Apr 15 after a serious heart condition. His situation is closely monitored by DEM Party members and government officials.
He has a daughter named Ceren and a grandson named Ferhan Can. (TY/VK)
