Özgül Saki ranks second in the deputy candidate list of the Green Left Party for Istanbul’s 2nd District. She was born in 1967 in Çaycuma, a working-class district in Zonguldak province in northern Turkey. After graduating from METU, she was appointed to Istanbul as a teacher, where she became involved in the trade union struggle. She fought for the establishment of women's commissions in the unions during the 90s. Saki embraced the feminist movement and the struggle of the Freedom Movement. She went to Kurdistan as a member of the Women's Initiative for Peace during the self-government resistance and met women there. Based on her observations in the region, she started to focus on autonomous structures and self-government models. She went to Mexico to see the self-government experience in practice. After Mexico, she witnessed the peace process in Colombia.

Saki, who defines herself as a "socialist feminist", explained the reason for her candidacy: "We regard the parliament as an area where our struggle in the street can have a voice, and where we can appeal to a wide audience. At the same time, we consider the parliament as a ground of struggle to be cleared of male domination.”

MISOGYNIST ALLIANCE

Saki stressed that the People's Alliance is a misogynist alliance with all its parties, including the ruling AKP and Hüda Par. She said: “They have a definition of “acceptable” women and they want to degrade women into that identity.They think that violence is legitimate against all women who remain outside of that identity. We will not allow this mindset to prevail.”

SECOND DISTRICT IS A CULTURALLY DIVERSE AREA

Saki recalled that the 2nd District of Istanbul represented a historical struggle experience for the feminist movement. She continued: “It is a region where we have faced misogynist state officials since the 90’s. The rallies we organize on November 25 always take place in Taksim. We have been through a pandemic and violence, but we never gave up on this symbolic area, so there is a network of relations in the region. The 2nd district is a diverse area with different classes, belief groups and non-believers. It is a culturally diverse area and very important in terms of realizing the diversity of the fields of struggle while carrying out election activities.”

NOT A SINGLE VOTE SHOULD BE WASTED

Saki emphasized that not a single vote should be wasted in the May 14 elections. She concluded: “It is very important that the dynamics of the struggle unite in this area and increase the number of deputies. Almost everyone knows already that there will be a system change. It is clear what consequences have been brought by the accumulation of all the power in one man’s hand. Therefore, this system must change. This requires amendments to laws and the constitution. In this sense, the number of deputies to be elected is very important. It is of vital importance that not a single vote is wasted, and many more deputies win seats in the parliament.”