Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu

Of Turkish origin,{{cite web |title=Faruk Gergerlioğlu ile Ömer Turan birbirine girdi! |url=https://kocaelizirve.com/faruk-gergerlioglu-ile-omer-turan-birbirine-girdi/6067170/ |website=Kocaeli Zirve |date=13 January 2021 |access-date=30 September 2022}} Gergerlioğlu was born in Şarkikaraağaç. He completed his primary and schools education at the (Religious Vocational School) in Bursa, Turkey. In 1990, he graduated from the Medical School of the Anadolu University.

He began working at a Medical Center in Tecirli, Iğdır. His second stop was Orhaneli State Hospital, Bursa.{{Cite web|date=2 February 2019|title=My CV|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/biyografi/ozgecmis/ozgecmisim/214/|access-date=5 June 2020|website=Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu Portal|language=tr}}

He was successful in the Expertise in Medical Science (TUS) in 1995. He completed his expertise training in pulmonology at Süreyyapaşa Pulmonology Hospital in 2000.

In 2005, he started working as a pulmonologist (with a focus on tuberculosis) at Seka State Hospital, Kocaeli.

He was suspended from public service due to one of the messages he shared on social media{{Cite news|date=14 October 2016|title=Gergerlioğlu görevden alındı|work=Cagdas Kocaeli|url=https://www.cagdaskocaeli.com.tr/haber/4585713/gergerlioglu-gorevden-alindi|access-date=6 June 2020}} during the State of Emergency (OHAL), which was declared following the 15 July 2016, coup attempt in Turkey. He was purged from public service with a decree-law (KHK) no. 679, dated 6 January 2017.{{Cite news|date=7 January 2017|title=Doktor Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu da KHK ile ihraç edildi|work=T24|url=https://t24.com.tr/haber/doktor-omer-faruk-gergerlioglu-da-khk-ile-ihrac-edildi,381593|access-date=6 June 2020}} He is also banned from leaving country. Only after elected a being a Member of Parliament in the Parliamentary Elections in June 2018{{Cite web|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=2021-03-24|title=Kocaeli Seçim Sonuçları - Genel Seçim 2018 Kocaeli Sonucu|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2018/kocaeli-ili-secim-sonuclari|access-date=2021-03-24|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR}} he was able to travel abroad.{{Cite news|date=20 October 2018|title=KHK'lı vekillerin yurt dışı yasağı kalktı|work=Milliyet|url=https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/khk-li-vekillerin-yurt-disi-yasagi-kalkti-2763264|access-date=6 June 2020}}

He was active in the field of education between 2009 and 2015. He was the founding manager of a pre-school education institute. He was also the Kocaeli representative of an educational institution named Akil Oyunlari ('Mind Games' in English), which is focused on developing children's intelligence.{{Cite news|date=31 December 2018|title=AKIL OYUNLARI'NDA İKİNCİ DÖNEM|work=OFG Web|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/basin/basindan/akil-oyunlari-nda-ikinci-donem/811/|access-date=6 June 2020}}

Between 2003 and 2007, he assumed the presidency of the Kocaeli Branch of Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed (known as MAZLUMDER an abbreviation of its Turkish name: 'İnsan Hakları ve Mazlumlar İçin Dayanışma Derneği'). At the local level in Kocaeli, he led various activities from freedom of expression to women's rights. He pioneered drafting reports and organizing petitions. He initiated the 'Freedom to headscarf' campaign and oversaw it for years.

In 2007, the General Assembly of MAZLUMDER appointed him as the President at the national level. Despite the calls from the General Assembly to continue his function, Gergerlioglu decided to leave the presidency in 2009.{{Cite news|date=24 March 2018|title='MAALESEF BUGÜN MEDİNE SÖZLEŞMESİ UNUTULMUŞ'|work=OFG Web|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/basin/soylesiler/yazarimiz-omer-faruk-gergerlioglu-maalesef-bugun-medine-sozlesmesi-unutulmus-2/1922/|access-date=6 June 2020}}{{Cite web|date=2017-04-12|title=Turkey: the great purge, Episode 3: Omer|url=https://webdoc.france24.com/turkey-referendum-purge-erdogan-cleansing/episode-3-omer/|access-date=2021-02-23|website=FRANCE 24|language=en}} He was one of the co-signatories of the I apologize campaign, in which several personalities of the Turkish-Kurdish society{{Cite web|title=özür diliyorum|url=http://www.ozurdiliyoruz.info/index.html|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.ozurdiliyoruz.info|archive-date=2 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102193006/http://www.ozurdiliyoruz.info/index.html|url-status=usurped}} encouraged Turkey to take responsibility for their role regarding the massacres suffered by the Armenians.{{Cite web|date=2008-12-18|title=Turkish PM dismisses apology for alleged Armenian genocide|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/18/armenian-genocide-apology-turkish-rebuttal|access-date=2021-04-02|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

File:Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu during a speech.jpg

He became the spokesperson of Kocaeli Peace Platform (2013),{{Cite news|last=Akyol|first=Mustafa|date=22 October 2016|title=How to lose a job with a peacenik tweet|work=Hurriyet Daily News|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/opinion/mustafa-akyol/how-to-lose-a-job-with-a-peacenik-tweet-105229|access-date=6 June 2020}} which consisted of various NGOs that are active in Kocaeli, and the spokesperson of Rights and Justice Platform, which was founded in March 2017.

He attended countless human rights events both in Turkey and abroad, and organized various human rights campaigns, including drafting reports on specific issues. Since 2007, he has been writing about national and global political issues in local, national and international newspapers and websites. He has given countless interviews on websites and makes podcasts on human rights violations. He makes weekly broadcasts on Periscope named 'OFG TV'.{{Cite web|title=ÖFG TV (Videos)|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/kategori/basin/ofg-tv/|access-date=6 June 2020|website=OFG Web|language=tr}}

Gergerlioglu is a supporter of Kurdish rights. After Sur and Cizre operations, he and other human rights activists released a declaration criticizing excessive usage of force and human rights violations of security forces.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In the aftermath of the 15 July 2016, coup attempt in Turkey, he has been mainly focused on the legal and social effects of the State of Emergency (OHAL), particularly the decree-laws (KHK). He played the leading role in revealing torture cases (such as the case of tortured Turkish diplomats) and in bringing human rights tragedies to the public attention (such as the case of Ahmet Burhan Atac).{{Cite news|last=Hurtas|first=Sibel|date=28 February 2020|title=A boy took on Turkey's fickle justice system; guess who won|work=Al-Monitor|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/turkey-judicial-control-has-turned-to-punishment-mechanism.html|access-date=6 June 2020}}

• He was the head researcher of the field study on 'Ethnic and Religious Discrimination in Turkey.

• 'Turkey's political prisoners at grave risk from COVID-19', Washington Examiner (11 May 2020).{{Cite web|title=Turkey's political prisoners at grave risk from COVID-19|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/turkeys-political-prisoners-at-grave-risk-from-covid-19|date=11 May 2020|website=Washington Examiner|language=en|access-date=1 June 2020}}
• His interview about the bill on execution of sentences in Turkey, Al Arabiya (15 May 2020).{{Cite web|title=Al-Arabiya TV kanalına infaz yasası ve cezaevleri konulu verdiğim söyleşi • Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu Portal|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/basin/basindan/al-arabiya-tv-kanalina-infaz-yasasi-ve-cezaevleri-konulu-verdigim-soylesi/15641/|last=Gergerlioğlu|first=Ömer Faruk|date=15 May 2020|website=Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu Portal|language=tr|access-date=1 June 2020}}

On the 11 October 2016, an investigation against Gergerlioğlu was initiated for having shared an image on twitter in support of a Kurdish Turkish peace process, depicting mothers behind a symbolic coffin draped with a Turkish flag and another one with the flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The image was taken during a manifestation of the Peace Mothers on the World Peace Day. On the 13 October, he was summoned by his superior at the state hospital in İzmit and suspended from his duties. Nacho Sánchez Amor, the current rapporteur for Turkey of the European Parliament, condemned the confirmation the sentence in February 2021.{{Cite web|title=EP Turkey rapporteur slams Ankara over jail sentence of opposition deputy|url=https://ahvalnews.com/nacho-sanchez-amor/ep-turkey-rapporteur-slams-ankara-over-jail-sentence-opposition-deputy|access-date=2021-02-23|website=Ahval|language=en}} Gergerlioğlu is still able to appeal the verdict at the Constitutional Court.{{Cite web|title=HDP: Gergerlioğlu is not alone!|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/hdp-gergerlioglu-is-not-alone-50142|access-date=2021-02-23|website=ANF News|language=en}}

In February 2018, Gergerlioğlu was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison after sharing an article on Twitter with the title "PKK: if the state takes the initiative, peace can be achieved within a month". The online newspaper who published the article, T24, was not prosecuted.{{Cite web|date=26 April 2018|title=WEATHERING THE STORM: DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN TURKEY'S CLIMATE OF FEAR|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur44/8200/2018/en/#:~:text=Turkey%3A%20Weathering%20the%20storm%3A%20Defending%20human%20rights,in%20Turkey%27s%20climate%20of%20fear&text=This%20briefing%20focuses%20in%20particular,fair%20trials%20have%20been%20eroded.|access-date=6 June 2020|website=Amnesty International|language=en}} Due to this conviction, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was stripped of his parliamentary membership on the 17 March 2021.{{Cite web|date=2021-03-17|title=Turkey moves to ban pro-Kurdish HDP party|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210317-turkey-moves-to-ban-pro-kurdish-hdp-party|access-date=2021-03-17|website=France 24|language=en}} Following he would not leave the building of the Turkish Parliament and initiated a so-called "Justice Watch" together with other Member of Parliaments from the HDP.{{Cite web|title=HDP's Gergerlioğlu detained at Parliament|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/politics/241133-hdp-s-gergerlioglu-detained-at-parliament|access-date=2021-03-21|website=Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}} The same day his Parliamentary immunity was revoked, the Turkish state prosecutor before the Court of Cassation Bekir Şahin filed a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court demanding for him and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban to engage in politics.{{Cite web|title=HDP indictment seeks political ban for 687 members, including Demirtaş, Buldan and Sancar|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/politics/241005-hdp-indictment-seeks-political-ban-for-687-members-including-demirtas-buldan-and-sancar|access-date=2021-03-19|website=Bianet}} The lawsuit was filed together with the request for a closure of the HDP{{Cite web|date=2021-03-18|title=Turkish prosecutor seeks political ban on 687 pro-Kurdish politicians|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkish-prosecutor-seeks-political-ban-on-687-pro-kurdish-politicians-news-56691|access-date=2021-03-19|website=www.duvarenglish.com|publisher=Gazete Duvar|language=}} due to the parties alleged organizational links with the PKK and its politicians role in terrorist activities.{{Cite web|last=Welle (www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche|title=Staatsanwaltschaft macht Front gegen Partei HDP {{!}} DW {{!}} 17.03.2021|url=https://www.dw.com/de/staatsanwaltschaft-macht-front-gegen-partei-hdp/a-56907450|access-date=2021-03-26|website=DW.COM|language=de-DE}} On 21 March 2021 in the morning he was detained by the Turkish police and dragged out of the Turkish Parliament. He was released shortly after he delivered testimony regarding him not leaving the Turkish Parliament while being expelled from it.{{Cite web|title=Turkish police frees politician after detention in assembly|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-police-detain-politician-staging-parliament-sit-76588246|access-date=2021-03-21|website=ABC News|language=en}} On 2 April 2021 he was arrested.{{Cite web|title=Son dakika... Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu gözaltına alındı: Babamı tutuklamaya geldiler|url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/omer-faruk-gergerlioglunun-oglu-babami-tutuklamaya-geldiler-1825254|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.cumhuriyet.com.tr|language=tr}} Hours later he was brought to hospital to get an emergency operation. After the operation he was brought out of intensive care and sent back to prison.{{Cite web|title=HDP: Gergerlioğlu 'abducted' from hospital and put in prison|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/politics/241839-hdp-gergerlioglu-abducted-from-hospital-and-put-in-prison|access-date=2021-04-03|website=Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}

The Constitutional Court restored Gergerlioğlu's parliamentary membership on 1 July 2021, stating that his rights had been violated when he was convicted. He was released from jail on 6 July and the ruling of the court was read out in the Grand National Assembly on 16 July.{{Cite web|title=HDP's Gergerlioğlu returns to parliament after top court ruling|url=https://bianet.org/english/politics/247364-hdp-s-gergerlioglu-returns-to-parliament-after-top-court-ruling|date=2021-07-16|access-date=2021-07-17|website=Bianet}}

At the parliamentary elections of 24 June 2018, he was elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) representing Kocaeli for the People's Democratic Party (HDP).{{Cite web|date=6 June 2020|title=HDP Deputies|url=https://hdp.org.tr/tr/milletvekillerimiz/6503|access-date=6 June 2020|website=hdp.org.tr}} He is a member of the Parliamentary Commission of Human Rights Inquiry. He draws attention to human rights violations and campaigns to improve the rights of Kurds, prisoners and people who have been purged after July 15, 2016 coup attempt. In January 2018, he signed a petition against Turkey's Operation Olive Branch against Afrin, Syria.

• The Intellectual of the Year Award by Feta Initiative and Sakarya Voluntary Educators Association (2013){{Cite web|last=ofg|date=2019-02-02|title=Özgeçmişim • Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu Portal|url=https://www.omerfarukgergerlioglu.com/biyografi/ozgecmis/ozgecmisim/214/|access-date=2020-06-05|website=Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu Portal|language=tr}}
• Selected as the 'Person of the Year (2019)' by the Ahval News{{Cite web|title=Ahval 'Yılın Kişisi'ni seçti: Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu|url=http://ahval.co/tr-69180|access-date=2020-06-05|website=Ahval|language=tr}}

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{{Members of the 27th Turkish Parliament}}

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Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians

Category:People from Şarkikaraağaç

Category:Anadolu University alumni

Category:Expelled legislators

Category:Turkish pulmonologists

Category:Turkish human rights activists

Category:Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey

Category:Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey

Category:Deputies of Kocaeli

Category:Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party politicians