Press Release

May 29, 1997

Contact: Noah A. Weiss

Tel: (202) 483-6444

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Condemns Turkey,

Urges Action on Behalf of Kurds, Leyla Zana

Yesterday, Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Co- Laureate, labeled the Turkish government's oppression of its Kurdish population as "morally wrong and strategically unsound." At a reception honoring him and Leyla Zana of Kurdistan, Ramos-Horta compared Turkey's horrific treatment of the Kurds to China's treatment of the Tibetans and Indonesia's treatment of the East Timorese. Ramos-Horta also criticized U.S. policy towards Turkey, describing American arms transfers to the country as "morally indefensible" and suggesting the U.S. should initiate "a concerted effort to bring about a negotiated settlement" between the involved parties.

Ramos-Horta frequently linked the East Timorese struggle for self- determination with that of the Kurds. He cited the Turkish government's refusal to negotiate with Kurdish leaders such as Leyla Zana, the first Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1991 and, later, arrested on charges of treason. In describing the two-time Nobel Peace Prize finalist, the 1995 Sakharov Freedom Award winner, and political prisoner since 1994, Ramos-Horta said, "Leyla Zana has fought for the right to preserve what is thousands of years old -- culture, civilization -- through peaceful means." He urged the U.S. to press for Zana's immediate release from prison, as well as the release of all other political prisoners, claiming it "is the minimum the U.S. can do."

Ramos-Horta spoke critically of the world's major powers, blaming their long-standing policies of realpolitik for the continuation of oppression by "brutal regimes" worldwide. He referred to Kurds as "a people that have been...betrayed by almost every major power in the world." Ramos-Horta also criticized the military relationships between Turkey and several Western governments, adding, "Introducing weapons to Turkey today...is extraordinarily dangerous."

Along with Ramos-Horta, Kathryn Porter, President of the Human Rights Alliance, denounced Turkey's recent invasion of Kurdish-occupied northern Iraq. "A full-scale slaughter is underway...it continues unabated...[and] is being done with the U.S. tax dol-lar," Porter said. "The people of Turkey need our help but the military of Turkey does not."

Mr. Ramos-Horta closed his remarks by saying, "The Kurdish people deserve better....We owe those who are in Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, in Turkey much, much more and we can do much, much more."