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EUTCC condemns Turkish court over Layla
Zana Jail sentence
13.4.2008
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April
13, 2008
EUROPEAN TURKEY CIVIC
COMMISSION ( EUTCC)
Press Release: April 11, 2008
Kurdish spokesperson Leyla Zana convicted to two
years in prison
Leyla Zana, a well know political spokesperson for
the Kurds in Turkey has been
sentenced to two years
imprisonment by a Turkish Court in
the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. The court’s
judgment said she violated Article 7/2 of the
Anti-Terrorism Law after a
speech she held
at a Kurdish Newroz Festival in 2007.
In the hearing in Diyarbakir Zana stated; "It is a
shame in the name of Turkish democracy that I have
appeared before the judge for my thoughts".
The court's decision to jail Zana came on the same
day that European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso arrived in Ankara for talks with Turkish
leaders. One of the topics of concern was the
situation for freedom of expression in Turkey.
Leyla Zana sent the following statement to the EUTCC
Chair Kariane Westrheim today: “There is not any
legitimacy for a mentality which judges the freedom
of expression. Because freedom of expression is the
basis of basic human rights. The punishment for
voicing public demands for respect, equality and
freedom is a disgrace.”
Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman to win a seat
in the Turkish Parliament in 1991. Her decision to
give the Parliamentary Oath in Kurdish led to
immediate calls for her arrest. She was sentenced to
15 years in prison but was released in 2004 due to
international pressure.
Zana received the Rafto Prize in 1994 and the
Sakharov Prize the following year.
Leyla Zana is an outspoken ambassador for the
Kurdish people. Despite her suffering during 10
years in Turkish prison, she has chosen to speak on
behalf of her people in an open and direct manner.
She demands recognition for the Kurdish language,www.ekurd.net
Kurdish identity and
freedom of expression in addition to political and
cultural rights. Zana believes it is her duty to
seek a non-violent and democratic solution for the
Kurds living within Turkey's borders.
EUTCC calls on the EU and the international
community to strongly condemn the Turkish court
decision which is a major set back for the democracy
process in Turkey.
For further information
Kariane Westrheim, Chair of EUTCC -
Menneskerettighetenes plass 1 - 5007 Bergen, Norway
- Telephone: +47 976 42 088
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise
with the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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