What's in a Name? A Story of the Political Struggle Behind an ExComm Member's Name

Written by Melis Ulug

Edited by Pallavi Baraya

Our ExComm member, Dr Özden Melis Uluğ, was born in 1987 in Turkey. Although her dad wanted to name his daughter Melis, he faced administrative problems. The birth registrar did not accept the name Melis because he claimed that it was a non-Turkish name (e.g., Christian, Kurdish, Persian). As a result, he did not issue her an identification card. Her dad did not give up and  filed a legal case against the Birth Registration Office over the name Melis. As this was an interesting case, 10 lawyers volunteered to defend it.

Her dad also defended himself in court,  stating: "The Turkish State cannot decide what I call my own daughter. You claim that Melis is a Christian name. If you don't allow me to name my daughter what I choose, I'll change my religion and become Christian and, thus, will call my daughter Melis. Later, I may change my mind again. If I don't like Christianity, I'll change my religion again and become a Muslim. But ultimately, only I can decide what I will call my daughter." Her dad won the case, and Melis received her identification card. The legal case also attracted media attention in Turkey, and you can see a couple of examples below.