The Turkish regime refuses to even acknowledge the Kurds' existence, referring to them as "mountain Turks," prohibiting all expression of Kurdish culture and language in an effort to forcibly assimilate them, and jailing, torturing or killing Kurdish leaders. The Iraqi regime has used poison gas on its Kurds, and has destroyed 4, 000 Kurdish villages. The Iranian regime has lined them up against firing squads, while the Syrian regime barely tolerates them with no rights. But, Mr. Speaker, while the treatment of the Kurds in Iraq, Iran, and Syria is deplorable, the Turkish mistreatment of the Kurdish people is particularly shocking for a very basic reason: Turkey is considered an ally of the United States, a member of NATO and the recipient over many years of millions of economic and, especially, military assistance courtesy of the American taxpayer.

This embarrassing record of American support for the Turkish regime reached a new low last month when our intelligence and diplomatic services actually helped a Turkish commando team to capture Mr. Ocalan in Kenya. This action violates the spirit of the Torture Convention, to which the United States is a signatory. Had Mr. Ocalan been here in the United States, I cannot imagine that he would have been turned over to Turkey -- just as Italy refused to do when he was in Italy.

This shameful collaboration with Turkey has resulted in Mr. Ocalan being held in solitary confinement on an island prison in Turkey, with no access to his international team of lawyers. Plans call for him to be tried in a secret military-type court, with no jury and no foreign observers. Given the unlawfulness of his abduction and the illegitimacy of the security tribunal, there is ample reason to assume that Mr. Ocalan will not receive a fair trial.

Mr. Speaker, I want to note that the injustice of the Ocalan abduction and trial, and the much larger issue of the oppression of the Kurdish people, has not gone unnoticed around the world. Here in Washington over the past weekend, a rally was held across from the Turkish Embassy. The Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the Human Rights Alliance recently commemorated the Eleventh Anniversary of Saddam Hussein's Massacre of over 5, 000 Kurds in the village of Halabja. The suffering of the Kurdish people has not gone completely unnoticed. But we need to do more.

The Government of Turkey's undeclared war on the Kurds has claimed close to 40, 000 lives and caused more than 3 million people to become refugees. Mr. Ocalan's appearance in Rome with the pledge that he was ready to renounce violence presented an opportunity for peace, but neither Turkey nor the United States took him up on his offer.

Mr. Speaker, it is not too late. We should use our leverage over Turkey to demand that an International Tribunal prosecute Mr. Ocalan, since Turkey is at war with the Kurds and cannot be expected to conduct a fair trial. I hope that the European Union -- to which Turkey is seeking admission -- will also put pressure on Turkey. We must demand a fair trial for Mr. Ocalan, but this should only be a first step in our efforts to press Turkey to enter into negotiations to achieve a political solution to this ongoing struggle. This is fundamentally in Turkey's interests too, in the long run, since they cannot continue to keep down 35 million people living in their midst.

Last Sunday, March 21st, was the Kurdish New Year, Newroz, symbolizing a day of resistance and deliverance from tyranny for the Kurds. In that spirit, I hope that we will soon witness a turning point from the terrible tragedies that the Kurdish people have experienced and instead see the rebirth of a strong and free Kurdistan.

Mr. Speaker, this week, U.S. forces have gone into battle in the former Yugoslavia in an effort to prevent the genocide of the Kosovar people. I strongly support that effort, which shows America at its best. I hope that the same resolve and sense of outrage that caused us to act to protect the Kosovars will finally motivate America and the free world to put an end to the genocide of the Kurdish people.