Behice Boran facts for kids

Behice Boran (born May 1, 1910 – died October 10, 1987) was an important Turkish politician, writer, and sociologist. She believed in ideas that focused on equality and workers' rights. Because of her strong political views, she was often put in prison. She eventually had to leave Turkey and live in another country after a military takeover in 1980. She passed away while living away from her home country.

Behice Boran's Life Story

Behice Boran was born in Bursa, a city in Turkey, in 1910. Her family came from a group called the Kazan Tatars, who had moved to the Ottoman Empire (which is now Turkey) in the 1890s.

She went to the American College for Girls in Istanbul. After that, she traveled to the United States to study sociology at the University of Michigan. In 1939, she earned her PhD in sociology. During her studies, she became interested in a political and economic idea called Marxism, which focuses on class struggle and a society without private ownership.

Early Career and Activism

After returning to Turkey, Behice Boran became a professor at Ankara University. She also secretly joined the Communist Party of Turkey. This party believed in a system where the government controls everything for the good of all people.

She started publishing magazines that shared left-wing ideas. These magazines were called Yurt ve Dünya (meaning Motherland and World) and Adımlar (meaning Steps). Because of her political activities and writings, she lost her job at the university.

In 1950, she helped create the Turkish Peacelovers Association. This group spoke out against Turkey joining the Korean War. For her involvement, she was arrested and spent 15 months in prison.

Becoming a Member of Parliament

In 1965, Behice Boran was elected as a deputy (like a Member of Parliament) for the Workers' Party of Turkey. This meant she represented the people in the Turkish parliament.

In 1970, she became the leader of the Workers' Party of Turkey. However, after a military coup in 1971, she was arrested again and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Exile and Later Life

Behice Boran was released from prison in 1974 because of a general pardon. In 1975, she started the Workers' Party of Turkey again.

After another military coup in 1980, Boran had to leave Turkey. She lived as a political refugee in different European cities like Sofia, Brussels, and Düsseldorf. A political refugee is someone who has left their home country because they are afraid of being harmed for their political beliefs.

In 1987, she announced that the Workers' Party of Turkey and the Communist Party of Turkey had decided to join together. Soon after this announcement, she passed away in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 77, due to heart disease.

Her body was brought back to Istanbul. Her funeral became a very large public gathering. It was the first big show of support for left-wing movements in Turkey after the 1980 military coup.

See also

• Politics of Turkey