Sırrı Süreyya Önder
Sırrı Süreyya Önder (7 July 1962 – 3 May 2025) was a Turkish film director, actor, screenwriter and columnist. Elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), he later joined the party even though he was not of Kurdish descent. He competed in the 2014 municipal elections as the Istanbul mayoral candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the sister party of the BDP, coming third with 412,875 votes (4.83%).
Also recorded as Sirri Süreyya Önder · Sirri Sureyya Onder
Sırrı Süreyya Önder

YouTube: https– View/save archived versions on archive.org · CC BY 3.0
- Born
- 1962. · Adıyaman.
- Died
- 2025. · Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital.
- Nationality
- Turkey.
- Occupation
- politician, film director, screenwriter, columnist, actor and filmmaker.
- Education
- Ankara University Faculty of Political Science.
- Languages
- Turkish.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Sırrı Süreyya Önder (7 July 1962 – 3 May 2025) was a Turkish film director, actor, screenwriter and columnist. Elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), he later joined the party even though he was not of Kurdish descent. He competed in the 2014 municipal elections as the Istanbul mayoral candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the sister party of the BDP, coming third with 412,875 votes (4.83%).
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Sırrı Süreyya Önder (1962–2025) was an actor, columnist and film actor, among other activities, of Turkish nationality. The actor was born in Adıyaman and died in Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder was educated at Ankara University Faculty of Political Science. The actor worked for BirGün, Özgür Gündem and Radikal and held the position of member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Languages used include Turkish.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Sırrı Süreyya Önder. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q982389 · wikipedia · Sırrı Süreyya Önder
In this article
Early years and education
Early years and education
In the general election of 7 June 2015 he was elected as MP for the 1st electoral district of Ankara Province. Önder became a Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly on 2 June 2023.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder studied at Ankara University Faculty of Political Science. The recorded working language is Turkish. Employment is recorded with BirGün, Radikal and Özgür Gündem. Positions recorded include member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Önder was born to a Turkoman family on 7 July 1962 in Adıyaman. His father, a barber, was the founder and leader of the provincial office of the Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) in the 1960s. His father belonged to the faction of Behice Boran. When Önder was eight years old, his father died from cirrhosis, after which the family moved to the maternal grandfather's house. To support his family, whilst still at school, Önder began working as an apprentice in a photograph shop, and this continued until he was in the tenth grade of high school. At the age of sixteen Önder began to earn more money working for the National Malaria Eradication Program. He got involved in the trade union movement and this led to him being fired. Following a brief time in his own tire repair shop he made a living in the countryside by taking people's photographs for their identity documents. In 1980 Önder enrolled in Ankara University to study political science. During the second term he joined a political student movement to protest the military junta that had overturned the government on 12 September 1980. He was arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison on charges of membership in an illegal organization. He was incarcerated in overcrowded wards in prisons like Mamak, Ulucanlar and Haymana.
Career
Career
Önder's 2006 film The International was awarded the Best Picture Prize at the 2007 International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, and was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2010 Önder began a columnist career at the newspaper BirGün. He then continued to write at the daily Radikal. Backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in the 2011 parliamentary elections, he ran as an independent. Elected as a deputy for Istanbul, he then joined the BDP. After entering parliament, he quit his post at Radikal. He also wrote for Özgür Gündem. Önder was involved in the 2013 Taksim Gezi Park protests and was reportedly hospitalised after being hit by a tear gas cartridge. He was part of a delegation of HDP politicians facilitating a dialogue between Öcalan and the Turkish Government which on 28 February 2015 led to the Dolmabahce Consensus. Önder was sentenced to 43 months in prison on 3 December 2018 for a speech he held during the Newroz festivities in 2013. On 6 December 2018 he went to prison in Kocaeli. On 4 October 2019, Önder was released, one day after the Constitutional Court ruled his freedom of expression had been violated. On 17 March 2021, the State Prosecutor to the Court of Cassation Bekir Şahin filed a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court demanding for Önder and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban to engage in politics together with a closure of the HDP due to their alleged organizational unity with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Death
Death
Önder died on 3 May 2025, at Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul, where he was being treated for multiple organ failure which arose as a result of complications of a ruptured aortic artery that he had been hospitalised for on 15 April. He was 62. He is buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.
Filmography
Filmography
2006 The International (Turkish: Beynelmilel), director, screenwriter, film score and actor − Best Picture Award 2007 International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival Sis ve Gece, actor 2008 O... Çocukları, screenwriter Kalpsiz Adam, advisor to screenwriter 2009 Ada: Zombilerin Düğünü, (guest actor) Ejder Kapanı, actor 2010 Mar, guest actor 2011 Yeraltı, actor 2012 F Tipi film, director 2013 Düğün Dernek, actor 2024 Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı, screenwriter
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2025
Sırrı Süreyya Önder died at Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Adıyaman.
Birth place
Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Sırrı Süreyya Önder”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q982389: Sırrı Süreyya Önder
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.'Bana bir avans verin size nasıl vekillik yapılır göstereyim'. Radikal. 16 April 2011.
- 2.BDP'den kritik açıklama!. Habertürk. 16 April 2011.
- 3.Sırrı Süreyya Önder: Ben kürt kökenli değilim. Videonuz.
- 4.Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey.
- 5.Haberler. Ankara 1. Bölge 2015 Genel Seçim Sonuçları.
- 6.Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Sırrı Süreyya ÖNDER − 28. DÖNEM İSTANBUL MİLLETVEKİLİ.
- 7.Sırrı Süreyya Önder Kürt mü aslen nereli eşi ve çocukları kimdir?.
- 8.29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007). MIFF.
- 9.Sırrı Süreyya Önder/Tüm Köşe Yazışarı. BirGün.
- 10.Sırrı Süreyya Önder yaralandı. Star Gazete. 31 May 2013.
- 11.Sırrı Süreyya Önder. Özgür Gündem.
- 12.Letsch, Constanze. Turkey protests spread after violence in Istanbul over park demolition. Guardian. 1 June 2013.
- 13.Phillips, David L. An Uncertain Ally: Turkey Under Erdogan's Dictatorship. Taylor & Francis. 68. 23 May 2017. 9781351623940.
- 14.Sırrı Süreyya Önder in Prison. Bianet.
- 15.Former lawmaker from pro-Kurdish HDP released after top court ruling. IPA NEWS. 4 October 2019.
- 16.Turkish prosecutor seeks political ban on 687 pro-Kurdish politicians. www.duvarenglish.com. 18 March 2021.
- 17.Sırrı Süreyya Önder hayatını kaybetti. BBC News Türkçe. 3 May 2025.
- 18.Sırrı Süreyya Önder son yolculuğuna uğurlandı. NTV.com.tr. 2025-05-04.
- 19.Özel, “Sırrı Süreyya’nın emaneti”ni açıkladı: Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı. bianet.org.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,556 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Sivaji GanesanPerson
- SivakartikeyanPerson
- SivanPerson
- Sivan LevyPerson
- Sıtkı AkçatepePerson
- SjumandjajaPerson
- Skai JacksonPerson
- Skandar KeynesPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Sırrı Süreyya Önder?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.