"I love life and want to hold onto it. But my passion for justice for my tormented people, for their dignity and freedom, must be greater still. For of what value is a life of slavery, of humiliation and contempt for that which you hold most dear: Your identity! I will therefore not give in to the Turkish Inquisition."
~ Leyla Zana.
~ Leyla Zana.
From the email, a statement from Leyla Zana to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus:
13 September 2008
Diyarbakır
Esteemed friends, dear participants;
First, I greet you all with love and respect. As someone who has devoted her entire life to the struggle for freedom, peace and democracy, I do not think I have to tell you how sad I am for not being able to be among you today, on a day dedicated to democracy. Sometimes both time and words are inadequate for explaining things. I am currently passing through such a time of turmoil. While on the one hand, I am trying to heal the damage inflicted on my body due to years of imprisonment, on the other hand, in court rooms I am paying for the price of the things I have said and spoken about. Regardless of all these, I wish to be with you in subsequent events.
Just as Aung San Suu Kyi has said, "Peace, justice and development are inextricably bound together." In fact, when we go to the root of all the pain and suffering in the world, we see that we are confronted with governments that have not been able to adequately internalize the vital importance of rights, law, equality, freedom and democracy. Aren't the fighting and wars handed over from generation to generation fought in order to create a democratic mechanism in a just, free, honourable and secure environment? Aren't the pains suffered by mankind since it came into being, based on the wish to live in peace? Alas, the world is still not just, still not safe and unfortunately still not democratic at all! Probably because governments regard democracy as something confined to their use alone, they stifle opposing voices and do not hesitate to shut them up for good. Does democracy mean equalising the differences?
As I believe you have been following the Kurdish issue with interest, I do not deem it necessary to tell you its historical development chronologically. Nevertheless, in countries without a developed democracy like Turkey, where democracy remains on paper alone, democratic gains require a heavy sacrifice. I will just try to depict the current picture for you. Today, the aftermath of the unpalatable picture of war shaped by blood and tears is as follows: over 30 thousand soldiers, guerrillas, village guards and civilians who have lost their lives...Thousands of people who have been maimed...Thousands of villages that have been evacuated, burned and razed...
Millions of people who have been displaced and became refugees in their own country...Torture, and hundreds of state perpetrated murders recorded as 'perpetrator unknown'...
Tens of thousands of widowed women, thousands of orphaned children, parents whose hearts are bleeding...
People lost while in detention... rape and sexual abuse...
A disrupted environmental balance, cities becoming encroached by slum areas and lopsided urban development...
Overcrowded prisons and tens of thousands of people tried unlawfully in courts with extraordinary powers...
Increasing pressure on the opposition media, newspapers and magazines which are expropriated because they are witnesses to and the voice of the truth...
A constitutional order where people are banned from using even their mother tongue and where they are regarded as entities abstracted from their national identity and culture...
A constitution -- developed during the military junta period by the generals who made the coup --which regards all different entities in the country as Turkish...
Political systems that get clogged up and that get mired in corruption the more they do so...
Unemployment and poverty that have become a lifestyle for tens of millions of people...
An 80 year old state policy that has become increasingly decadent and turned into a gang mentality through bribery, corruption and moral decay...
Many things have changed in the world; the cold war has also ended. Many years have passed by. Walls and blocs came tumbling down.
From Asia to Europe to Africa...many peoples became free, new sates emerged, borders were removed. Concepts like human rights, democracy and peace have become issues, areas of interest and passions not just for countries with problems in these areas but for the entire mankind. Everything that makes life easier has entered homes and offices through small screens that create wonders. The earth became too small for mankind and it started seeking life in different planets. And we, a bunch of people are coming together for "democracy", coming from four corners of the world, from Canada, Mexico, Zimbabwe and Ecuador...We do not know each other at all, but our paths with different starting points intersect here, in this struggle…
Our identities, beliefs, tastes, elegies, dirges and pains are different; so are our smiles, joys and colours. But there is one thing where we do not think differently at all: a unique thing that turns tens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of hearts into a single heart; and that is an honourable, just and lasting peace...
It is because of this that government policies becoming concrete in the person of the Kurdish leader Mr. Öcalan who is being held in a one man island prison break our hopes for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue and gives concerns firstly to the Kurdish people and also to the democratic public opinion. We unfortunately believe that we are justified in our concerns. The isolation of Mr. Öcalan is being insisted on; his requests for relocation to another place where he could meet his people are rejected. The government is insensitive to his severe health problems stemming from climatic conditions and although he has declared that he is ready for democratic change, transformation and solution, the same old policies are being insisted upon. Radical legal reforms that have been enacted within the framework of EU relations examples of which have been seen in many countries are not put in place.
Is there another people that you know, with a population of over 40 million, one of the most crowded of its kind, that is devoid of its political, social and cultural rights, that cannot even use its mother tongue? Turkey has signed many international treaties and made commitments to the entire world. One of these is the UN Twin Conventions. But despite signing this convention, Turkey does not fulfil its commitments. The spirit of these conventions necessitates that people determine their 'political status, their economic, social and cultural development freely'.
The 12th of September Constitution developed in a military coup environment has still not been changed. A legal and constitutional arrangement in which the treatment of Kurds is uncertain will not be accepted by the Kurdish people. The new constitution must be developed within the framework of a democratic social contract. Clearly, the traditional stance of the Middle East that tries to maintain the status quo is resisting against change and against our country's objective of integrating with the age of democracy and civilization; and it does this by being emboldened with external dynamics.
Dear friends and fellow travellers,
If these issues we are discussing today are one side of the coin, we need bolder, more concrete and practicable steps to reveal its other side. If we do not provide the encouragement, those who nourish war, those who are nourished by war and conduct their politics over war will never give up war. I would like to take this opportunity to share my belief that duties with a gravity of importance that are too profound and intense to define by any concept fall upon all individuals and institutions that support living in peace.
The interest and support you have not denied us despite distances of thousands of kilometres between us, gives strength to me and the defenders of peace and democracy. We have to bear in mind that solidarity and being in communication with each other might not entirely lift pressure but it would at least have an alleviating and slowing down effect. I think the common denominator of bridges of hearts formed through friendships is love for humanity. I therefore attribute great value to the feelings of solidarity towering over this denominator. It is of course not easy to break prejudices. While prejudices are broken, there will naturally be a lot of speculation. But somebody must show the bravery of starting somewhere to break them.
With my feelings of friendship and respect...
Leyla Zana
Thanks for the email, heval.
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