Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-14-Speech-4-047"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041014.5.4-047"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mrs Zana, over and over again you have demonstrated the truth of what you said when you were tried again: ‘I am first and foremost a woman, then a mother, and finally a politician. In my capacity as a woman, a mother and a politician, I swear that I will fight for brotherhood between the Turkish and Kurdish people’
Please allow me, Mrs Zana, to use your own words and welcome you in your own language, in Kurdish:
Mrs Zana, it is a great honour to have you in our Parliament.
Ladies and gentlemen, today is a special day for our Parliament. We are all delighted that we can finally hear the voice of Leyla Zana. President Klaus Hänsch, in his speech to this House when you were awarded the Sakharov Prize, was waiting impatiently for the day when you could speak to us in person. On that day, your husband, Mehdi Zana, received the prize on your behalf and today I would like to welcome him as well, a free man, after years in jail – and we are talking about no less than 16 years in jail – and years of suffering over recent decades.
Mrs Leyla Zana, before you take the floor, I would like to remind the House why this Parliament awarded you the Sakharov Prize, the freedom of conscience prize, and I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Mrs Roth and Mrs Lalumière, who are with us today and who, as leaders of their respective groups, were amongst those who proposed that you receive this prize, almost ten years ago.
Four years earlier, during the worst period of conflict in the South East of Turkey, you were the first Kurdish woman to be elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. When you took your seat in Parliament you promised – in Kurdish – to fight to ensure that Kurds and Turks could live together within a democratic framework. And it was because of that and your subsequent speeches and writings that you were sentenced to 15 years in prison by the National Security Court in Ankara together with your three colleagues, Turkish Members of Parliament Dicle, Sadak and Dogan.
You were fully aware of the impact of your words on the occasion of your oath-taking and of the language you spoke them in. You have paid dearly for them, in terms of years and of health. But despite that, you remained firm in your democratic fight for the rights of your people, rejecting the offer of a pardon you were made for health reasons. You refused to remain silent, even when that meant prolonging your sentence. And you had to carry this burden alone. But many people in the international community supported you.
This Parliament – the European Parliament – condemned the accusations against you and your conviction, as a violation of democratic principles. This Parliament called for your release in many resolutions.
You can take great satisfaction, however, from the fact that your suffering has not been in vain and that your personal fight has made a significant contribution to the changes that have taken place in Turkey since you were elected as a Member of Parliament. For example, it is no longer illegal to speak Kurdish, radio broadcasts and education in Kurdish are beginning to be allowed, there is no longer martial law and a state of emergency in the South East, following the unilateral truce by the PKK, and the long armed conflict which has lasted 15 years has practically come to an end.
There is undoubtedly a long way to go – and you have explained this to us over recent days – and many improvements still to be made in the practical situation in terms of respect for the freedoms and rights of the Turkish people. But, when the Turkish Court of Appeal finally decided to release you on 9 June of this year – we are not talking, ladies and gentlemen, about events that happened a long time ago, but on 9 June of this year Mrs Leyla Zana was still in prison – you justified our faith in you by calling on your compatriots to fight for peace and recognition in the South East and demanding that the Kongra-Gel, the successor to the PKK, maintain the ceasefire."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"(The formal sitting was opened at 11.05 a.m.)"1
"‘Sti Leyla Zana, hatenava we yave parlemento e ji bo me serblindi ye’"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples