Sirri Süreyya Önder was born in 1962 in Turkey. He is an actor and writer, known for The International (2006), Bliss (2007) and F Tipi Film (2012).

Politics

Sırrı Süreyya Önder (born 7 July 1962) is a Turkish film director, actor, screenwriter, columnist and politician with Turkmen[1] ancestry. Elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), he later joined the party. 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%).[4] In the general election of June 7, 2015 he was elected as MP for the 1st electoral district of Ankara Province.

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 from Istanbul, he then joined the BDP. After entering parliament, he quit his post at Radikal. Currently he writes 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.