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Birth
Leman Bozkurt was born in 1932 in Sarıkamış, Kars Province in Azerbaijani family. -
Youth/Career
After graduating from the girls' highschool in Istanbul, she applied to İnönü Training Center of Turkish Aeronautical Association in İnönü district of Eskişehir Province to be trained as a glider pilot.
When Turkish Air Force decided to enroll women in 1954, she applied to Air Forces. She was the very first female student in the military school in İzmir. -
Youth/Career
She was trained on propeller aircraft between 1955 and 1957. In an interview she says that in the early days, the school had no boarding facility for the female students and she had to stay as a guest in the house of an officer's family. On 30 August 1957, she graduated as a military pilot. Although, later, five other female students were also accepted to school, she was the only female student to join the aviation unit in Eskişehir military base. -
Youth/Career
She was trained in Eskişehir as a jet pilot and earned the rank of second lieutenant on 22 November 1958. Up to 1967 she flew in Republic F-84 Thunderjet and Lockheed T-33. Later years she served in staff duty. She retired as a senior air colonel.
In 1959, Leman Bozkurt married Tahir Altınçekiç, a colleague in Eskişehir. -
Importance
In the Interview with Changemakers corner, Leman Bozkurt Altınçekiç, who is the first Turkish female jet pilot as well as the first female jet pilot of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), told us about her daughter Funda Altınçekiç Aysel. “Although being in this profession as a woman carries many difficulties, it can be clearly said that; “This profession taught me to direct life and try different paths.” Leman Bozkurt has become an exemplary woman to everyone with her courage. -
Death
She died on 4 May 2001 in İzmir. She was laid to rest in Karabağlar Cemetery.