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The Statement
of the Kurdish PEN Centre
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concerning
the release of Leyla Zana
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On
the 9th June, 2004, Turkey's
appeals court ordered the release of the four Kurdish activists, pending the
outcome of an appeal lodged against their 1994 convictions.
One of them is Ms. Leyla Zana, winner
of the European Parliament's 1995 Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought,
had become an outstanding female representative of Kurdish non-violent
movement. From the very beginning, the trial and convictions against Ms.
Zana and her colleagues
raised serious concerns by the European Court on Human Rights, high-ranking
European politicians, Turkish liberals as well as the Amnesty
International and a number of other human rights organisations.
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It
is obvious that the latest move of the Turkish authorities, however late it
may be, is an attempt to avoid further international pressure while Turkey
applies for European Union membership.
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Thanks
to the tireless work of Mrs. Lucina Kathmann, backed by a number of PEN
institutions and individuals, the
Assembly of Delegates of International PEN at its 69th Congress adopted a
special resolution demanding the release of Leyla
Zana. The resolution characterised her detention as a “breach
of internationally recognised human rights norms, notably Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a party”.
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The
Kurdish PEN Centre appreciates all those who voiced their support of the
Kurdish writer and journalist Leyla Zana including:
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· The Women Rights’ Committee;
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· The
Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC);
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· The
Bosnian, English and Spanish PEN Centres;
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· All
the national PEN Centres and their representatives who voted for the Resolution on Turkey Concerning the Detention of Leyla Zana
at the 69th Congress of PEN International in Mexico City, Mexico,
22 – 28 November 2003.
- The
Kurdish PEN Centre is especially indebted to Lucina Kathmann as well
as to Sara
Whyatt,
Jane Spender, Terry Carlbom, Eugene Olgin-Schoulgin, Moris
Farhi, Dixe Wills,
Íride
Rossi de Fiori, Elena Bayón
and many
others.
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Bremen, 20th June, 2004