Press Release

May 23, 1997

Contact: Noah A. Weiss

Tel: (202) 483-6444

Nobel Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta To Speak On Behalf of Leyla Zana

On Wednesday, May 28, Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate, will speak on behalf of Leyla Zana at a reception sponsored by the American Kurdish Information Network and the East Timor Action Network. Mrs. Zana, the only Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament; has been imprisoned in Turkey since 1994. In addition, Mr. Ramos-Horta will discuss his work toward human rights and self-determination for the people of East Timor.

Leyla Zana was elected to the Turkish Parliament in October 1991 with 84% of the electoral vote from her heavily Kurdish-populated hometown of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Mrs. Zana, recipient of the 1995 Sakharov Freedom Award, was one of seven Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament imprisoned in December 1994, having been prosecuted for engaging in "separatist speech" stemming from her nonviolent expression of political beliefs.

Leyla Zana became the first Kurd to break the ban on the Kurdish language in the Turkish Parliament, for which she was later tried and convicted. She had uttered the following words: "I am taking this [constitutional] oath for the brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples." In May 1993, Leyla Zana testified before the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress regarding the status of human rights in Turkey. The Turkish government branded her testimony treasonous and used it to convict her as well.

Leyla Zana's pursuit of democratic change through non-violent means landed her in prison in Turkey. Thousands of others, like Leyla Zana, have suffered the same fate for the same reasons, not only in Kurdistan but also in East Timor. The Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Timorese since 1975.

Jose Ramos-Horta is Special Representative of the National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM), the umbrella organization of the East Timorese resistance. He received the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for their work towards a peaceful and democratic solution to the conflict between the Indonesian government and the Timorese' claim to self-determination.

The reception will be hosted by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW # 800. Free copies of the soon-to-be-published book Free Leyla Zana! will be available at the event.