Pioneering Turkish women’s rights activist Şirin Tekeli dies at 73

MUĞLA

Turkish author, translator and women’s rights activist Şirin Tekeli died at the age of 73 in the Aegean province of Muğla on June 13, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Tekeli had been suffering brain cancer for a while in Muğla’s Bodrum district. 

Tekeli’s body was sent to the Çapa Medical Faculty to be used in medical researches.   

Opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Filiz Kerestecioğlu said Tekeli’s body would be delivered to prominent woman scientist Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı.  

A funeral ceremony will not be held for Tekeli, according to media reports. 

“An announcement will be made regarding a commemoration for Tekeli in the forthcoming days. We will bid farewell in the most honorable way after we recover ourselves,” Kerestecioğlu added.  

Tekeli was born in Ankara in 1944. In 1963, she completed a degree in law in Paris, where she also excelled in French. She studied political science in Switzerland before returning to Turkey, where she worked as a lecturer for many years at Istanbul University.

An iconic pioneer in women’s rights movements in Turkey, Tekeli founded many associations working to better the lives of women in the country. She translated over 25 books about women and democracy from French and English into Turkish.