Having been detained on at least 35 occasions throughout her life, in December 2024 Tanrıkulu was arrested for being a member of a terrorist organisation on charges Amnesty International described as "baseless".
Tanrıkulu was born in Feriköy, Şişli, Istanbul, to Kurdish parents originally from the village of Çobanyıldızı in the Pülümür District of Dersim (now Tunceli) Province.
[1] Tanrıkulu was also a member of the Saturday Mothers, which was originally founded to raise awareness of forced disappearances and political murders during the military junta between 1980 and 1983 via a campaign of civil disobedience, primarily through silent sit-ins at Galatasaray in Beyoğlu, Istanbul starting in 1995.
[1] In 2021, Tanrıkulu was detained alongside 16 other women following the Feminist Night March in Taksim Square, Istanbul, after allegedly chanting insults about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey.
[1] On 26 November 2024, Tanrıkulu was among 14 people detained following a mass operation across several Turkish cities targeting politicians, trade unionists and human rights activists.
Tanrıkulu's home was raided and she was taken to Ataköy Police Station in Bakırköy, Istanbul, where she was remanded before being transferred into the custody of the Ankara Anti-Terror Department on 28 November.
They stated that a transcription of Tanrıkulu's interview included questions about her support of the Kurdish rights movement during the 2013-2014 peace process and historic travel made at that time, none of which it felt could be considered as confirming her involvement in a terrorist group.