News Center- Didar Şensoy is known for her long-standing human rights struggle in Turkey. She was one of the founders of the Human Rights Association (IHD) founded in 1986 in Turkey.

Didar Şensoy was born in Yugoslavia, in 1934. She worked as a radio personality and teacher in Yugoslavia. She immigrated to Turkey after the arrest of her brother Hasan Şensoy. The arrest of her brother was a milestone in her life and she devoted herself to the improvement of prison conditions and the struggle for human rights.

She became one of the leaders of the struggle for human rights against the violations in prisons and the attacks on democratic rights after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. She was the “Sister” of the prisoners and their families and the symbol of the human rights struggle in Turkey.

Didar Şensoy was also the symbol of the resistance of the families demanding justice for their children held in Metris Prison. On September 1, 1987, she submitted a petition to the Parliament demanding the improvement of the conditions in prisons.

She travelled from Istanbul to Ankara along with the relatives of the prisoners to draw attention to repression in Turkey’s prisons. They held a protest in front of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. There she said, “I will not leave here until you release my children from prison.” She lapsed into a diabetic coma after police attacked them and then lost her life.