November 13, 1997

BODY:

   As her husband, Rep. John Porter, R-Wilmette, was rubbing shoulders
with President Clinton at the White House Thursday morning, Kathryn
Cameron Porter was huddled under a sleeping bag on the steps of the
Capitol, joining a hunger strike on behalf of Turkey's Kurdish
minority.

   ''There's just so many contrasts for a human rights activist in
Washington who happens to be married to a member of Congress,'' she
said as an icy wind chilled the granite steps. ''It has its positive
side, but it has more than its share of drawbacks.''

   Not that Rep. Porter disagrees with the cause: drawing attention to
a Kurdish parliamentarian imprisoned in Turkey and the plight of Kurds
in general. But while John Porter has denounced Turkey in petitions to
the Clinton administration, Kathryn Porter has taken it to the streets.

   The hunger strike was organized by the American Kurdish Information
Network. It is on behalf of Leyla Zana, a Kurdish human rights activist
and member of the Turkish Parliament who is serving a 15-year prison
sentence in Turkey for treason.

   The Turkish government used reports of testimony before the U.S.
Congress by Zana about Turkish human rights abuses to convict her, AKIN
says. The Turks claim Zana is linked to the Kurdish separatists waging
a guerrilla war against the government.

   Kathryn Porter, a founder of the Human Rights Alliance who has
trotted the globe on behalf of various causes, said she has had a
long-standing interest in the Kurds. The 30-million strong ethnic group
inhabits parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

   Porter said the U.S. government consistently ignores repression of
the Kurds by Turkey, which is a U.S. ally.

   ''It's taken years of frustration to bring me here,'' she said. ''I
believe the Kurds are the American Indians of the Middle East. They
have had political boundaries imposed on them and the machines of the
military are trying to annihilate them.''

   The hunger strike, which includes two other people, began Oct. 20
and is open-ended. Porter, a diabetic, initially fasted for six days,
but started eating one meal a day after she got ill. She was uncertain
how long she will keep up the protest.

   ''Right now, I'm really flat,'' she said.

   Porter's involvement has raised the profile of the protest, said
AKIN Director Kani Xulam.

   ''It has been priceless,'' he said. ''We've had 32 members of
Congress come see us, many because of her.''

   Rep. Porter said he was proud of his wife, but didn't discuss the
issue with Clinton when he went to the White House for a bill signing
Thursday morning. ''I didn't get a chance,'' he said.

   While he supports the goal of the hunger strike, Porter said he
worries about his wife's health.

   ''I think a hunger strike dramatizes what's going on in Turkey,'' he
said. ''But she's a diabetic and it affects her health, without
question.''