Leman Bozkurt Altınçekiç

Leman Bozkurt Altınçekiç (1932 – 4 May 2001) was a Turkish pilot. She was the first female accredited jet pilot in the Turkish Air Force and NATO.

Early years Leman Bozkurt was born in 1932 in Sarıkamış, Kars Province to a Karapapak family. After graduating from an all-girls high school in Istanbul, she applied to the İnönü Training Center of the Turkish Aeronautical Association in the İnönü district of Eskişehir Province to be trained as a glider pilot. 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 a Republic F-84 Thunderjet and a Lockheed T-33. In her later years she served in staff duty. She retired as a senior air colonel. She died on 4 May 2001 in İzmir. She was laid to rest in Karabağlar Cemetery.

Legacy On 1 December 1984, which is the 50th anniversary of full suffrage for Turkish women, she was invited to the Turkish parliament and received a plaque for being the first woman in the profession.