Behice Boran; Pioneer Woman in Turkish Politics

Behice Boran, 77, the first woman to lead a political party in Turkey. Ms. Boran served a 15-month jail sentence in the 1950s for Communist activities but later became a member of Parliament for the now-banned, far-left Turkish Workers Party. She was elected TWP leader in 1975. She fled the country when all Turkish political parties were abolished after a military coup in 1980 and was later stripped of her citizenship after refusing official calls to return home. Only last week, Ms. Boran announced a merger between the TWP and the Turkish Communist Party--founded and based outside Turkey--under the name of the Turkish United Communist Party. Communist parties have been banned in Turkey since the republic was founded in 1923. In exile in Brussels on Saturday.