Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my indignation over the decision of
the Turkish government to sentence Leyla Zana, the Kurdish parliamentarian
who is currently serving a fifteen year sentence, to two additional years
in prison as a blatant violation of the freedom of expression and an insult
to her supporters worldwide.

This time, the Turkish authorities charge that Leyla Zana broke the law in
a letter she wrote to the People Democracy Party (HADEP) to urge them to be
forthcoming, diligent, decisive and to push for individual and collective
freedoms.  The fact that Leyla Zana has been charged with inciting racial
hatred reveals that Turkey is a racist state and continues to deny the
Kurds a voice in the state.

As my colleagues know,  Leyla Zana is the first Kurdish woman ever elected
to the Turkish parliament.  She won her office with more than 84% of the
vote in her district and brought the Turkish Grand National Assembly a keen
interest for human rights and a conviction that the Turkish war against the
Kurds must come to an end.  Last year, 153 members of this body joined
together and signed a letter to President Bill Clinton urging him to raise
Leyla Zana's case with the Turkish authorities and seek her immediate and
unconditional release from prison.  

Leyla Zana was kept in custody from March 5, 1994, until December 7, 1994
without a conviction.  On December 8, 1994, the Ankara State Security Court
sentenced her and five other Kurdish parliamentarians to various years in
prison.  Leyla Zana was accused of making a treasonous speech in
Washington, D.C., other speeches elsewhere and wearing a scarf that bore
the Kurdish colors of green, red and yellow.  This year marks her fifth
year behind the bars.

Today, in Turkish Kurdistan, 40,000 people have lost their lives.  More
than 3,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed.  Over 3 million residents
have become destitute refugees.  Despite several unilateral cease fires by
the Kurdish side, the Turkish army continues to pursue policies of hatred,
torture and murder, and genocide of the Kurdish people.

Mr. Speaker, as I finish my sixth year in office as a member of the United
States Congress, I find it outrageous that the government of Turkey, after
so much outcry, after so much petitioning and after so much publicity would
dare to punish her again incensing her friends and supporters all over the
world.  There is only one word that comes to my mind and it is, fear, Mr.
Speaker.  The government of Turkey is afraid of Leyla Zana and it thinks it
can lock her away forever.  That was the story of those who locked Nelson
Mandela.  The longest nights, Mr. Speaker, give way to bright dawns.  Mr.
Mandela is a public servant now.  And the world is grateful.

People like Leyla Zana who utter the words of reconciliation and
accommodation need to be embraced, validated and freed.  I urge the
government of Turkey to set aside its conviction of Leyla Zana and free her
immediately, and I urge my colleagues and government to condemn her
conviction and make her release a priority.