Önder was born on 7 July 1962 in the southeastern Anatolian city of Adıyaman to a barber father, who was founder and leader of the provincial office of Behice Boran's Workers Party of Turkey in the 1960s. His father died from cirrhosis when Önder was eight years old. His mother moved with him and his four younger siblings to the maternal grandfather's house. To support his family, whilst still at school, he began working as an apprentice in a photograph shop, and this continued until he was in the tenth grade of high school. At the age of sixteen Önder began to earn more money working for the National Malaria Eradication Program. He got involved in the trade union movement and this led to him being fired. Following a brief time in his own tire repair shop he made a living in the countryside by taking people's photographs for their identity documents. In 1980 Önder enrolled in the university in Ankara to study political science. During the second term he joined a political student movement to protest the military junta that had overturned the government on 12 September 1980. He was arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison on charges of membership in an illegal organization. He was incarcerated in overcrowded wards in prisons like Mamak, Ulucanlar and Haymana.
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 in the 2011 parliamentary elections, he ran as an independent. Elected as a deputy for Istanbul, he then joined the BDP. After entering parliament, he quit his post at Radikal. He also wrote 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. He was part of a delegation of HDP politicians facilitating a dialogue between Öcalan and the Turkish Government which on 28 February 2015 led to the Dolmabahce Consensus. Önder was sentenced to 43 months in prison on the 3 December 2018 for a speech he held during the Newroz festivities in 2013. On the 6 December 2018 he went to prison in Kocaeli.On the 4 October 2019 Önder was released after the Constitutional Court ruled his freedom of expression has been violated a day earlier.
Filmography
;2006
The International, director, screenwriter, film score and actor - Best Picture Award 2007 International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival
