U.S. Congressman Bob Filner (D)
Supports Self-Determination for the Kurds

[This speech was delivered before a crowd of 200 people in San Diego, California]

I want to thank the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), the 
Kurdish Cultural Center (KCC), the Kurdish National Congress (KNC), and 
the Kurdish community  right here in San Diego for inviting me to this 
gathering.  You continue to  educate me.  I am here for one simple 
reason: to express my support for the Kurdish people's struggle for self 
determination, peace, justice, and human  dignity.  Of course, the 
symbol of that struggle is a fellow democratically-elected 
representative, the imprisoned Kurdish leader, Leyla Zana.

In this hall, there are Kurds from Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria.  Each 
of you have experienced individual counts of oppression against 
yourselves or family  members.  You each have horror stories to tell, 
regardless of which nation has  subjugated you.  Though I know different 
segments of the world's Kurdish  population have different ideas on how 
to remedy the Kurdish plight, one thing is certain and clear:  Kurds can 
not go on living under the rule of Baghdad, Tehran, or Ankara.  And I 
hope that Kurdish leaders everywhere will work together for the cause of 
justice and peace.  A united front is crucial if we are  to reach that 
goal.

In Turkey today, as you know, innocent Kurdish civilians are being 
massacred, entire Kurdish villages are being destroyed, and millions of 
Kurds are forced from their homes, forced to the cities where 
unemployment and inflation are extremely high.  The entire region of 
southeastern Turkey has been ravaged -- it has become an economic and 
humanitarian disaster area.  This is simply unacceptable.  This is a 
cause for alarm for a country that uses American arms to commit such a 
crime.  United States-made weapons should never again be used against 
the Kurds or against anybody else, as they were at the ancient Kurdish 
city of Halabja, where over 5,000 Kurdish civilians, mostly women and 
children, were gassed to death.  Never again!

To that end, I am here tonight to lend my voice to the cause of Leyla 
Zana, a Kurdish woman, a fellow parliamentarian, who has committed her 
life's work to pursuing a peaceful and just resolution to the enduring 
Kurdish question.  Many of you have heard her story.  Some of you may 
even know her.  It is an honor for me to speak on her behalf so that one 
day soon she too could address you as she had done before her arrest.

You have already hard her story--an incredible story of self education, 
political growth, heroism and courage.

The Turkish government feared Leyla Zana was progressing too much in her 
endeavors for peace and now she shares a prison cell with a convicted 
murderer.  But they cannot imprison her picture, her words, her courage, 
and her inspiring story.

And because of the inspiring work of Leyla Zana and thousands of others, 
the Turkish oppression of the Kurdish minority will someday come to an 
end.  To achieve this result, it is far better to use peaceful measures 
and not continue violence.  Thus, we must embrace Leyla Zana for risking 
her life for the Kurdish people, not through violence, but through 
peaceful and democratic activism.

Kurds in Iran, Iraq and Syria live as second class citizens, denied the 
basic human rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The 
United States has it's own painful legacy of the denial of these rights 
to many of its citizens, and I am privileged to have been able to be a 
part of the civil rights movement to end discrimination.  I marched and 
have also been imprisoned with fellow demonstrators, protesting against 
unjust laws, and protesting for basic human rights.

The struggle for Kurdish self-determination is a human struggle.  It is 
a struggle that I have been a part of all of my life, and because of 
that, I am with you.  My public career has been devoted to helping to 
give a voice to the voiceless, and working with people to strengthen 
themselves, their families, and their communities.  The Kurdish people 
deserve self-determination.

As many of you know, an initiative has been undertaken in the U.S. House 
of Representatives in pursuit of Leyla Zana's freedom.  I, and 118 of my 
colleagues in Congress have signed a letter to President Clinton urging 
him to seek Leyla Zana's immediate and unconditional release from 
prison.  More Members of Congress are standing with Leyla Zana and the 
Kurdish people now than ever before.  Without a doubt, the U.S. Congress 
is becoming more aware of, and more sympathetic to the plight of the 
Kurdish people.  Surely, progress is being made.  Because of your vocal 
activism, the entire world is aware of the oppression Kurds face in 
Turkey.  It will not be too much longer before, once again, rays of 
light shine upon the land known as Kurdistan.