Portrait of a Woman
Portrait of a Woman
Seeing this small woman, short hair, the smile of a disarming sweetness, it is hard to understand because she inspires so much fear. Because of fear we are talking about. The turkish government has tried to "delete" her, erase her imposing on her fifteen years of imprisonment and holding her segregated for ten. But the name of Leyla Zana and her voice remained in the hearts and minds of Kurds and beyond. When Leyla speaks she does so with a gentle but firm tone at the same time. And when she speaks, she speaks. The passion inspires words which are still and heavy as boulders. Never insults, but the truth. The grim reality analysis. Then you understand what makes the Turkish establishment so afraid of her. Leyla Zana is a free woman. Her mind is free. The macho and militaristic image of the Turkish establishment falters in the face of this woman. Because she speaks, thinks and because she is a woman.
Since she left prison in 2004, the former Kurdish MP has never stopped. Despite the indelible marks that the ten years in prison have left on her, as her on her three fellow former MPs. Orhan Dogan died, his heart has not held up its efforts during the election campaign of 2007 which resulted in the election of twenty deputies tp the Turkish parliament. Hatip Dicle and Selim Sadak continue their political activity. Although Hatip Dicle - who is running as a candidate - is in prison at present, in the case open against the KCK, Kurdish Communities Congress, the prosecutors say is the urban arm of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party).
Leyla Zana was one of the founders of the party DTP (Demokratic Toplum Partisi, Party for Democratic Society). "We all know - she says - that a peaceful Turkey would be the greatest guarantee of peace in Europe, the Middle East and around the world." She speaks Kurdish as she did at the time of the oath in parliament after her election in 1991, calling for brotherhood and peace among the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. Because of this "outrage" she was convicted of separatism. Not much has changed over the last 30 years: the continuing repression against the Kurdish people and not even on the front of the Kurdish language there is much progress. "I find it a source of great embarrassment to Turkey - Zana says - that hundreds of people continue to be on trial because they speak in their mother tongue." In Kurdish areas the campaign for the right to speak in Kurdish is back on top of the agenda: there have been protests and initiatives in schools, and Kurdish mayors daily challenge (such as students and the public) authorities.
"The Kurds are like fire: if we approached in the right way to fire it will warm us up, but if you approach it the wrong way the fire will burn you," said Zana in one of the latest celebration of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year. For that speech yet another case has been opened against her. "The Kurds today - she says - are not only under attack by Turkey, Syria and Iran. The Kurds are now under attack internationally. When it comes to the Kurdish question, when asked to address the Kurdish question, protocols and international laws are immediately forgotten. They forget human rights and even democracy. "
But to address the Kurdish issue in an effective manner, said Zana "we must really understand the question, define it in the correct terms in order to address it." Because if the Kurdish issue was only "a matter of poverty and security, the methods used by more than half a century may not have brought some results?". The methods referred to by Zana are "the beatings, torture, indiscriminate arrests, executions, forced migration, extra-judicial killings, the evacuations of villages, the village guards." But the "destruction and denial - Zana says - can not be the only way to tackle the problem." The agreement, negotiation which need to be reached according to the former Kurdish lawmaker should be "first of all the admission that you can not solve a problem through a policy of condemnation, closing political parties, increasing the number of arrests and trials, preventing the growth of the politics of civil society and, above all, considering the death of hundreds of human beings as a mere statistic. " Zana is clear in her call for a negotiated solution to the conflict. And she repeats what she has been saying for some time. "The Kurds see the PKK as a sort of guarantee. The PKK itself has stated that if the necessary solutions will be provided and the attacks against them cease and democratic rights are guaranteed, is ready to cease fire and lay down their arms." In a Newroz speech Zana spelled it out clear: "The Kurds - she said - have no passion for weapons. If there was a real project and both parties were ready to negotiate, then armed activities will cease immediately. If dialogue and reconciliation are required, then you must speak to all Kurds and not only some of them."
Her words and speeches continue to be used by the Turkish establishment to open cases against her. Only a couple of years ago the High Court of Diyarbakir asked forty-five years imprisonment because "the defendant in every meeting she joins insists on saying that she does not consider the PKK a terrorist organization and she considers the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, as the leader of the Kurdish people. Besides she maintains that the struggle by the PKK is a struggle for democracy and freedom. " The charge against Zana is "to make terrorist propaganda."
Leyla Zana was born in Bahce. Today the village is no more. It has been destroyed (like other four thousand) by the Turkish army. It was a village where the patriarchate was very strong and the life of women full with punishments. Leyla always rebelled against punishment. She married the former mayor of Diyarbakir, Mehdi Zana. A man of culture and sensitive, Zana will become the supporter of his wife by now decided to take the battle to defend the rights of her people. The couple went to live in Amed, Diyarbakir, Mehdi and was elected mayor in 1977. The 1980 military coup brought Mehdi Zana to jail, sentenced to 30 years in prison and Leyla, a mother of two, continues her tireless campaign for the rights of her people. She became the spokeswoman for the women who had children, husbands, brothers in prison, but she was also convinced of the necessity of self-organization of women for their rights. She is the editor of a magazine that the Turkish authorities were not slow to close, but she continues to struggle.
She was elected to parliament in the ranks of DEP. She was a candidate for Diyarbakir where she takes a lot of votes. But soon after she is deprived of immunity and arrested. Thus the Turkish establishment thought of getting rid of an "enemy." But in reality, Leyla Zana has become a symbol of the liberation struggle of the Kurdish people. And the liberation of women. "Do not forget - Zana says - that we suffer twice, even three times. Because we are Kurdish, working-class and women."
In a meeting in London an English feminist asked Zana of her relationship with men. "Well - she said - I ask you frankly, do you prefer men to continue to walk in front of you or behind you? I think that I prefer men to walk alongside women. It is therefore important that women, mothers, rise their children in this spirit of equality. "
Leyla Zana is the candidate for Diyarbakir in the 12 June 2011 elections.
Since she left prison in 2004, the former Kurdish MP has never stopped. Despite the indelible marks that the ten years in prison have left on her, as her on her three fellow former MPs. Orhan Dogan died, his heart has not held up its efforts during the election campaign of 2007 which resulted in the election of twenty deputies tp the Turkish parliament. Hatip Dicle and Selim Sadak continue their political activity. Although Hatip Dicle - who is running as a candidate - is in prison at present, in the case open against the KCK, Kurdish Communities Congress, the prosecutors say is the urban arm of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party).
Leyla Zana was one of the founders of the party DTP (Demokratic Toplum Partisi, Party for Democratic Society). "We all know - she says - that a peaceful Turkey would be the greatest guarantee of peace in Europe, the Middle East and around the world." She speaks Kurdish as she did at the time of the oath in parliament after her election in 1991, calling for brotherhood and peace among the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. Because of this "outrage" she was convicted of separatism. Not much has changed over the last 30 years: the continuing repression against the Kurdish people and not even on the front of the Kurdish language there is much progress. "I find it a source of great embarrassment to Turkey - Zana says - that hundreds of people continue to be on trial because they speak in their mother tongue." In Kurdish areas the campaign for the right to speak in Kurdish is back on top of the agenda: there have been protests and initiatives in schools, and Kurdish mayors daily challenge (such as students and the public) authorities.
"The Kurds are like fire: if we approached in the right way to fire it will warm us up, but if you approach it the wrong way the fire will burn you," said Zana in one of the latest celebration of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year. For that speech yet another case has been opened against her. "The Kurds today - she says - are not only under attack by Turkey, Syria and Iran. The Kurds are now under attack internationally. When it comes to the Kurdish question, when asked to address the Kurdish question, protocols and international laws are immediately forgotten. They forget human rights and even democracy. "
But to address the Kurdish issue in an effective manner, said Zana "we must really understand the question, define it in the correct terms in order to address it." Because if the Kurdish issue was only "a matter of poverty and security, the methods used by more than half a century may not have brought some results?". The methods referred to by Zana are "the beatings, torture, indiscriminate arrests, executions, forced migration, extra-judicial killings, the evacuations of villages, the village guards." But the "destruction and denial - Zana says - can not be the only way to tackle the problem." The agreement, negotiation which need to be reached according to the former Kurdish lawmaker should be "first of all the admission that you can not solve a problem through a policy of condemnation, closing political parties, increasing the number of arrests and trials, preventing the growth of the politics of civil society and, above all, considering the death of hundreds of human beings as a mere statistic. " Zana is clear in her call for a negotiated solution to the conflict. And she repeats what she has been saying for some time. "The Kurds see the PKK as a sort of guarantee. The PKK itself has stated that if the necessary solutions will be provided and the attacks against them cease and democratic rights are guaranteed, is ready to cease fire and lay down their arms." In a Newroz speech Zana spelled it out clear: "The Kurds - she said - have no passion for weapons. If there was a real project and both parties were ready to negotiate, then armed activities will cease immediately. If dialogue and reconciliation are required, then you must speak to all Kurds and not only some of them."
Her words and speeches continue to be used by the Turkish establishment to open cases against her. Only a couple of years ago the High Court of Diyarbakir asked forty-five years imprisonment because "the defendant in every meeting she joins insists on saying that she does not consider the PKK a terrorist organization and she considers the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, as the leader of the Kurdish people. Besides she maintains that the struggle by the PKK is a struggle for democracy and freedom. " The charge against Zana is "to make terrorist propaganda."
Leyla Zana was born in Bahce. Today the village is no more. It has been destroyed (like other four thousand) by the Turkish army. It was a village where the patriarchate was very strong and the life of women full with punishments. Leyla always rebelled against punishment. She married the former mayor of Diyarbakir, Mehdi Zana. A man of culture and sensitive, Zana will become the supporter of his wife by now decided to take the battle to defend the rights of her people. The couple went to live in Amed, Diyarbakir, Mehdi and was elected mayor in 1977. The 1980 military coup brought Mehdi Zana to jail, sentenced to 30 years in prison and Leyla, a mother of two, continues her tireless campaign for the rights of her people. She became the spokeswoman for the women who had children, husbands, brothers in prison, but she was also convinced of the necessity of self-organization of women for their rights. She is the editor of a magazine that the Turkish authorities were not slow to close, but she continues to struggle.
She was elected to parliament in the ranks of DEP. She was a candidate for Diyarbakir where she takes a lot of votes. But soon after she is deprived of immunity and arrested. Thus the Turkish establishment thought of getting rid of an "enemy." But in reality, Leyla Zana has become a symbol of the liberation struggle of the Kurdish people. And the liberation of women. "Do not forget - Zana says - that we suffer twice, even three times. Because we are Kurdish, working-class and women."
In a meeting in London an English feminist asked Zana of her relationship with men. "Well - she said - I ask you frankly, do you prefer men to continue to walk in front of you or behind you? I think that I prefer men to walk alongside women. It is therefore important that women, mothers, rise their children in this spirit of equality. "
Leyla Zana is the candidate for Diyarbakir in the 12 June 2011 elections.
