July 25, 1997

Press Release

Telephone: (202) 483-6444

100 Members of Congress Seek Freedom for Imprisoned Kurdish Parliamentarian

To date, 100 members of the House of Representatives have agreed to sign a bipartisan letter to President Clinton urging him to "raise [Leyla] Zana's case with the Turkish authorities at the highest level and seek her immediate and unconditional release" from prison in Turkey.

The only Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament, Leyla Zana was stripped of her parliamentary immunity and arrested in March 1994, and later sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of treason. Zana had received 84% of the vote in October 1991 from her almost entirely Kurdish constituency in southeastern Turkey.

The initiators of this effort are Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-OR), Rep. John Porter (R-IL), Rep. Esteban Torres (D-CA), and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).

As a member of Parliament, Leyla Zana served as a leading spokesperson for Kurds dissatisfied with the Turkish government's longstanding policy of legally and brutally oppressing its Kurdish minority, which numbers 15 to 20 million people and comprises as much as one-third of Turkey's entire population.

As a Parliamentarian, Zana testified before the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress in May 1993 regarding the human rights situation facing Kurds in Turkey. The Turkish government later branded this testimony treasonous and used it to convict her.

In her testimony, Zana had expressed a desire for a negotiated settlement to the conflict in her homeland. Zana explained the years of sheer destruction in southeastern Turkey had transpired "because of our inability as political leaders -- both Turkish and Kurdish -- to sit down and negotiate an end to this enduring Kurdish question with candor and respect to the rights of the Kurds."

More than four years after Leyla Zana testified before Congress, the conflict in southeastern Turkey rages on with no end in sight. Zana had asked Congress to "side with the democratic forces and help...expedite the work of nonviolence." She was imprisoned for these comments. Now, 100 members of Congress have risen up in support of Leyla Zana and her call for peace, justice, and human dignity.

An alphabetical list of the 100 members of Congress who have already agreed to sign the letter to President Clinton follows:

Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-1st OR)

Rep. John Porter (R-10th IL)

Rep. Esteban Torres (D-34th CA)

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th VA)

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-1st HI)

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-5th NY)

Rep. Bob Andrews (D-1st NJ)

Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-9th FL)

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-3rd OR)

Rep. David Bonior (D-10th MI)

Rep. George Brown (D-42nd CA)

Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-13th OH)

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-43rd CA)

Rep. Walter Capps (D-22nd CA)

Rep. Julia Carson (D-10th IN)

Del. Donna Christian-Green (D-VI)

Rep. Gary Condit (D-18th CA)

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-47th CA)

Rep. William Coyne (D-14th PA)

Rep. Danny Davis (D-7th IL)

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-4th OR)

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-1st CO)

Rep. William Delahunt (D-10th MA)

Rep. Ron Dellums (D-9th CA)

Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-20th FL)

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-10th TX)

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-17th NY)

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-14th CA)

Rep. Lane Evans (D-17th IL)

Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS)

Rep. Vic Fazio (D-3rd CA)

Rep. Bob Filner (D-50th CA)

Rep. Floyd Flake (D-6th NY)

Rep. Mark Foley (R-16th FL)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-4th MA)

Rep. Bob Franks (R-7th NJ)

Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-2nd CT)

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-1st MD)

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-4th IL)

Rep. Tony P. Hall (D-3rd OH)

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-26th NY)

Rep. Tim Holden (D-6th PA)

Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-5th OR)

Rep. Stephen Horn (R-38th CA)

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th MD)

Rep. William Jefferson (D-2nd LA)

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-9th OH)

Rep. Sue Kelly (R-19th NY)

Rep. Joseph Kennedy II (D-8th MA)

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-1st RI)

Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-15th MI)

Rep. Ron Klink (D-4th PA)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-10th OH)

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-12th CA)

Rep. James Leach (R-1st IA)

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-18th TX)

Rep. John Lewis (D-5th GA)

Rep. Sander Levin (D-12th MI)

Rep. William Lipinski (D-3rd IL)

Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-18th NY)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-16th CA)

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-14th NY)

Rep. Thomas Manton (D-7th NY)

Rep. Edward Markey (D-7th MA)

Rep. Robert Matsui (D-5th CA)

Rep. Joseph McDade (R-10th PA)

Rep. James McGovern (D-3rd MA)

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4th GA)

Rep. Michael McNulty (D-21st NY)

Rep. Martin Meehan (D-5th MA)

Rep. Carrie Meek (D-17th FL)

Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th NJ)

Rep. Patsy Mink (D-2nd HI)

Rep. Joe Moakley (D-9th MA)

Rep. Constance Morella (R-8th MD)

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-8th NY)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

Rep. David Obey (D-7th WI)

Rep. John Olver (D-1st MA)

Rep. Major Owens (D-11th NY)

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th NJ)

Rep. Michael Pappas (R-12th NJ)

Rep. Ed Pastor (D-2nd AZ)

Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-19th IL)

Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-13th MI)

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-33rd CA)

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1st IL)

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-46th CA)

Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4th CT)

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-24th CA)

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-28th NY)

Rep. Christopher Smith (R-4th NJ)

Rep. Pete Stark (D-13th CA)

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-10th NY)

Rep. James Traficant (D-17th OH)

Del. Robert Underwood (D-GU)

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-12th NY)

Rep. Melvin Watt (D-12th NC)

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-6th CA)