Erol Dora, Parliment member in Turkey after 50 Years
Ankara – Erol Dora, an independent backed by the Kurdish Party for Peace and Democracy has won a seat in the parliamentary elections of Turkey.
Dora was elected in the southeastern district of Mardin and will become the first Assyrian and the first Christian to be elected in the Turkish Parliament since the 1960s. A lawyer in practice, the 47-year old is a former refugee who fled after the Turkish Army fought against PKK separatist in the 1990s. Dora has promised to rebuilt his village, which was completely destroyed in the war.
The Assyrian community in Turkey is estimated to be about 20,000.
The last Christian member of Turkish parliament was Berc Sadak Turan, an Armenian politician in the 1960s.
