Ayla Halit Kazım

Kazım was born in Larnaca in 1934,[1] the daughter of Mehmet Zeki Müderisoğlu from Larnaca and Nezihe Efendi from Limassol.[2][3] She grew up in Limassol,[3] and attended the American Academy in Larnaca.[2] In 1953 she married Shemshedin Halit Kazım and became a farmer.[2][1] The couple settled in Paphos and had four children.[2]

Shemshedin became the Turkish mayor of Paphos, and in 1960 was elected to the House of Representatives.[4] However, he died in a car accident in September 1963.[3] Ayla was chosen to replace him and was elected without a by-election.[3] She took office as the first female member on 25 October.[5] She joined the Independent Turkish Group, but alongside the other 14 Turkish Cypriot members, she withdrew from the House in December.[6] She had only attended two sittings of parliament and never received the salary due to representatives.[2]

Following the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion, Kazım moved to what became Northern Cyprus, settling in Güzelyurt. She subsequently became a member of the Community Assembly of the Autonomous Turkish Cypriot Administration.[2] In 2006 she won a court case entitling her to compensation from the Cypriot government, which had expropriated land she owned in Mandria.[7]