Öztürk Türkdoğan is a lawyer and is running in the 14 May parliamentary elections in Turkey on the list of the Green Left Party in Istanbul. He is a lawyer and a founding member of the trade union federation KESK and worked as its adviser for many years. He then became legal adviser to the Health and Social Services Workers' Union. He has been involved in the struggle for human rights since 2002. He was co-chair of the Human Rights Association (IHD) until 25 March 2023. Türkdoğan, who is also a member of the Association of Contemporary Lawyers and the Association of Lawyers for Freedom and co-founded the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), has worked in recent years to combat the increasing impunity in Turkey and the rights violations caused by the state of war. He continues to work specifically in the field of international criminal law and is now preparing to take his fight for human rights to parliament with the Green Left Party.

Speaking to ANF, Türkdoğan said that since 24 July 2015, when the dialogue process between Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Turkish state broke down, there has been an uninterrupted state of conflict and war, which has led to serious rights violations and an economic crisis. "Economic and social rights have been severely damaged. This period exhausted the government and increased illegality within the state. The state became more and more authoritarian, and this naturally brings change. This change was brought about by the people who fought back. After so many years in the field of human rights, it is time to use the experience we have gained in the field of politics as well," he said.

Türkdoğan stated that his greatest personal wish is to witness and participate in the building of a new peace process. He added: "We will show our determination to address human rights violations and our clear stance to eliminate them in parliament."

Recalling the pressure faced by the Istanbul Saturday Mothers' initiative, Türkdoğan said that the ban on Galatasaray Square as an ancestral rally site is arbitrary and that this decision sums up the situation in Turkey. "Freedom of expression and assembly is the most important fundamental right. Even the Constitutional Court has ruled that there is a violation of rights, but its decisions are not implemented in Turkey. This describes the authoritarian regime in this country very well. We will put an end to this regime. I believe that on Saturday after 14 May, which is 20 May, we will continue our action in this square in front of Galatasaray High School with a very big crowd. I was also detained there last year. Now there are detentions every week, but this will not last much longer. With our political struggle for democracy, we will liberate this square again."

Türkdogan stressed that a very strong wave of change has come. “We are on the eve of change, so to speak, and for that the Green Left Party must enter parliament as a strong faction. Look, all parties are talking about a new and democratic constitution. If we want to put an end to the approach that denies the peoples, cultures and faith communities of this country; if we want the rights of all ethnic groups, faith groups and individuals to be guaranteed in the constitution, the Green Left Party group should be strongly represented in parliament. I think this is very important and necessary, especially in terms of gender equality and the rights of women and children."

Türkdoğan continued: “The People's Alliance (AKP-MHP) is an electoral alliance that defends the official ideology anyway. The National Alliance (CHP-IYI Party) is only talking about restoration, and that is not enough. The Green Left Party will secure free life, ecology, the protection of the rights of nature and democratic society with a strong parliamentary group in parliament. In this context, we especially want our parliamentary group to be very strong in parliament. We expect the people of Istanbul to make a decision at this point."