Orhan Doğan was a Turkish politician, of Kurdish origin, of the Democratic Society Party

Democratic Society Party

The Democratic Society Party was a Kurdish Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social democratic, and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was considered to be the successor of the Democratic People's Party...

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In 1974 he went to the University of Ankara to study law.
In 1991 he was elected to the Turkish Parliament.
On 8 December 1994 he was convicted, with Leyla Zana

Leyla Zana

Leyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...

, Hatip Dicle

Hatip Dicle

Hatip Dicle , full name Mehmet Hatip Dicle, is a Turkish politician, of Kurdish origin, of the Peace and Democracy Party .In 1979 he graduated in engineering from the Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi...

 and Selim Sadak

Selim Sadak

Selim Sadak, is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin, currently the mayor of Siirt.Selim Sadak graduated from the Mathematics department of Diyarbakır Eğitim Enstitüsü...

, of membership in a terrorist organization (PKK) and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

An early day motion

Early day motion

An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...

 in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 2001 mentions him as an Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...

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On his release in 2004 he helped found the Democratic Society Party with Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle and Selim Sadak.

He died in 2007 following a heart attack that he suffered while giving a speech in a political rally in Doğubeyazıt

Dogubeyazit

Doğubeyazıt is a city and district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran. Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km². Population 115.354 of which 69.447 live in the town of Doğubeyazıt, the remainder in the surrounding countryside...