April 6, 2000 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H1953 of the tax code and its perverse incen- Speaker, I note with trepidation that city Amed was put under siege. Its tives. We need to change the tax sys- liberty is under assault. Cultural geno- funds were frozen. Mayor Zana ap- tem if we are going to leave this cen- cide is the law of the land. A way of life pealed to his European colleagues for tury the way we have entered it with known as Kurdish is disappearing at an help. French mayors responded by giv- the most productive economy and the alarming rate. ing 30 buses and trucks filled with of- preeminent economy in the world. Mr. Speaker, we are not always as a fice supplies and for a short while the f country indifferent to the plight of the bus fares in the city were simply abol- Kurds. Our 28th President, Woodrow ished. Leyla Zana’s education in poli- A FUTURE OF HOPE FOR TURKEY: Wilson, supported the right of subject tics began in those tumultuous years. ONE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE peoples to self-determination. In an ad- On September 12, 1980, a general in FOR THE KURDS dress to the Senate on January 22, 1917 the Turkish army named Kenan Evren The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. he said: declared himself the supreme leader of THUNE). Under the Speaker’s an- No nation should seek to extend its policy the country. He deposed the elected nounced policy of January 6, 1999, the over any other nation or people but that government and dissolved the par- gentleman from California (Mr. FIL- every people should be left free to determine liament. His soldiers then began arrest- NER) is recognized for 60 minutes as the its own polity, its own way of development, ing dissidents, especially the Kurds. designee of the minority leader. unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the lit- The rising star of Kurdish politics, Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday tle along with the great and powerful. Mehdi Zana, was high on their list. I introduced a resolution, House Reso- Three months after this statement, Twelve days later, he was arrested lution 461, to ask for the freedom of the United States entered the war on without any charges being posted. And Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan the side of the Allies. The war cry for the next 8 years, he would be tor- and Selim Sadak as well as the lifting ‘‘making the world safe for democracy’’ tured in the infamous Diyarbakir mili- of the ban on the Kurdish language and resonated with subject peoples all over tary prison. He would witness the culture in Turkey. Now, these names the world and families from North Afri- death of 57 of his friends. But through may be unfamiliar to some, but the ca to Central Europe and people who it all he did not break, he endured as names I just read are those of Kurdish named their sons after our President. did his wife and small children. parliamentarians, Kurdish Congress But the prophetic words of President Mehdi Zana was kept in prison for 3 members who have been in prison, yes, Wilson were disregarded, especially in additional years in various Turkish Mr. Speaker, in prison as the Ottoman provinces. The Armenians prisons in Turkey proper. He has Congresspeople for the last 6 years. The were massacred and the Kurds were chronicled his ordeals in a book enti- language and culture that they rep- subdued after the emergence of the tled Prison No. 5, now available in resent are the Kurds, an indigenous Turkish republic. What followed has bookstores in this country as well as people of the Middle East who live in been chronicled as nothing other than on amazon.com. I had the fortune of an ancient land called Kurdistan. a slow-motion genocide. meeting this nonviolent champion of These representatives are in prison In Turkey, a people known to histo- Kurdish rights a couple of years ago solely because they are Kurds, and the rians as the Kurds and a land known to and was humbled by the generosity of Kurds are not free because their land is geographers as Kurdistan simply dis- his feelings toward his tormentors. ruled by Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. appeared from the official discourse Like President Nelson Mandela in Now, this body has previously heard overnight just 1 year after the incep- South Africa, Mehdi Zana does not of the name Leyla Zana who, according tion of the young Turkish republic. seek revenge. He wants peace for him- to The New York Times, is the most fa- The Kurds, said the Turkish officials, self and his family and his people. mous Kurdish dissident in the world. were not really Kurds but mountain b 1745 This country has heard of the Kurds be- Turks and their land was not really In words that still haunt me, he cause Saddam Hussein gassed them Kurdistan but eastern Turkey. This act urged me to speak out against the slow with his chemical and biological weap- of social engineering and historical re- motion genocide against the Kurds. ons in 1988 and threatened to do so visionism has been propagated as the ‘‘The Armenians,’’ he noted, ‘‘were again in 1991. But neither this country law of the land ever since. Thousands massacred. The Kurds are being put to nor this body has really paid any at- of Kurds have died in rebellion after re- permanent sleep.’’ tention to the plight of the Kurds liv- bellion. Millions have been uprooted. Mr. Speaker, Leyla Zana’s schooling ing as they still do on their ancient Some wish to raise a Rest in Peace sign consisted of adversity, torture, humil- lands and still persecuted now even as over the entire Kurdish nation. iation, and State-sanctioned persecu- I speak by the governments in Ankara, Perhaps of all the stories that have tion that has never slackened to this Damascus, Tehran, and Baghdad. come out of the Kurdish land adminis- day. She had given birth to a son when Mr. Speaker, I am going to restrict tered by the Turks, that of Layla Zana Mehdi was the Mayor of Amed and my commentary today to Turkey, be- captures the essence of what it means would later give birth to a daughter cause it is a country we honor as an to be a Kurd in Turkey. She was born after her husband’s arrest. She would ally, we support as a friend and we in 1961 in a small Kurdish village near learn Turkish the hard way, from the favor as a partner. Turkey boasts of Farqin. Her earliest recollections of police who harassed her for being the having a sophisticated U.S. arsenal in the Turks were either as tax collectors wife of a popular mayor, and the courts its inventory: M–16 machine guns, M–60 or as soldiers. In elementary school the who ruled that he was a trader and de- battle tanks, Cobra attack helicopters, lone Turkish teacher that she had told served to die. and F–16 fighter planes. American Spe- her she should learn Turkish because it In 1998, she herself was thrown into cial Forces in fact train Turkish com- was the language of the civilization. jail and endured abuse, humiliation, mandoes in Turkey. Turkish leaders She was able to go to school for only 3 and torture for organizing the wives of are fond of referring to their people as years. Then she worked on a farm, Kurdish political prisoners to demand an ‘‘army nation’’ and talks are now helped out in the house and occasion- visitation rights. Although behind under way to supply Turkey with an ally heard of the name Mehdi Zana, bars, the authorities, fearing a chain additional 145 attack helicopters worth who was her future husband, as the ris- reaction, gave in to these mothers’ de- $4 billion. ing star of Kurdish politics. mands, and Layla Zana has related this Now, is Turkey really worthy of In fact in 1976, she married Mehdi brush with the police as a turning these investments? Have our fighter Zana and moved to the largest Kurdish point in her awakening as a political planes, our attack helicopters, our bat- city in the world known as Amed, or activist. She began reading vora- tle tanks, and our machine guns pro- Diyarbakir, in northern Kurdistan. In ciously, wrote for various publications, tected the liberty of its citizens? Why 1977, Mehdi Zana was elected to the passed a proficiency exam for a high are we training Turkish commandoes post of mayor of the city. Turkish offi- school diploma; in fact, the first Kurd- who are known to behead their victims cials were appalled. Here was an ardent ish woman to do so in her city. and haul their dead bodies behind ar- Turkish nationalist who managed to These were the years when the wall mored vehicles? In Turkey today, Mr. earn the trust of his fellow Kurds. The in Berlin came down, the Soviet Union H1954 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE April 6, 2000 let go of its subject nations, the Cold efforts. Her imprisonment continues Leyla Zana was one of their finalists. War that had dominated international and the intransigence of the Turks is The City of Rome has awarded her hon- politics was supplanted with a rap- still at an all-time high. orary citizenship. European organiza- prochement between the East and the The Porter letter, which was dated tions have bestowed on her numerous West. The winds of change that October 30, 1997 addresses some of the awards of their own. brought democracy to former com- concerns of the resolution I have intro- In 1867, Mr. Speaker, a great Amer- munist nations, people now hoped with duced in this Congress, and I would ican, Frederick Douglas, in his ‘‘Appeal visit the lands administered by ‘‘our like to read that ‘‘Dear Colleague’’ for to Congress for Impartial Suffrage,’’ dictators’’ in such places as South Afri- the RECORD. summarized the situation of his family ca, Indonesia and Turkey. It states: ‘‘Dear Mr. President: We which is akin to what this resolution is We all know that South Africa has want to draw your attention to the demanding from the Turkish Govern- made its transition to democracy. And tragic situation of Leyla Zana, the ment. Reflecting on Mr. Douglas’s his- just last year, the official world wel- first Kurdish woman ever elected to torical remarks, I was reminded of my comed one of its smallest nations to the Turkish parliament. Mrs. Zana, encounter with Mehdi Zana and how he the fold, the people of East Timor. But who is the mother of two children, was too echoed the same sentiments as our the Kurds, the Kurds, thus far, have chosen to represent the Kurdish city of own great emancipator. Mr. Douglas been kept off of this forward march to- Diyarbakir by an overwhelming margin wrote that, ‘‘We have marvelously sur- ward liberty. The adversaries of the in October 1991. She was arrested by vived all of the exterminating forces of Kurds and their misguided friends have Turkish authorities in March of 1994 in slavery, and have emerged at the end of managed to define them as the misfits the Parliament Building and subse- 250 years of bondage, not morose, mis- of the world. But this cause of liberty quently prosecuted for what Turkish anthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, is a just one, and the veil of oppression authorities have labeled ‘‘separatist hopeful and forgiving. We now stand over the Kurds must come down. speech’’ that is stemming from her ex- before Congress and the country, not There was a time when the prospects ercise of her right to free speech in the complaining of the past, but simply of peace and reconciliation between the defense of the rights of the Kurdish asking for a better future.’’ Simply Kurds and the Turks almost became a people. She was sentenced to 15 years asking for a better future. reality. In October 1991, the country in prison in December 1994 and remains Mr. Speaker, my resolution, sup- held a general election. Twenty-two in Ankara today. ported at this time by my esteemed Kurds were elected to the Turkish par- One of the charges against Mrs. Zana colleagues, the gentleman from Illinois liament. The names I mentioned when was her 1993 appearance here in Wash- (Mr. PORTER), the gentleman from New I first began tonight, Leyla Zana, ington before the Helsinki Commission Jersey (Mr. SMITH), the gentleman Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim of the United States Congress. We find from Virginia (Mr. WOLF), the gentle- Sadak were part of that group. Hopes it outrageous that although she was in- woman from California (Ms. ESHOO), were raised that these newly and duly vited to participate at the request of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. elected representatives would be the Members of Congress, her participation BONIOR), and the gentleman from New mediators with the Turks and peace was one of the activities that led to her Jersey (Mr. PALLONE), calls for a better and justice might once again come to imprisonment. future for the Kurds. In that future, the land of the Kurds. Mrs. Zana’s pursuit of democratic public service is not rewarded with But these hopes were dashed when change through nonviolence was hon- punishment, but honored with grati- Mehmet Sincar, a newly-elect Kurdish ored by the European Parliament tude. In that future, languages are not member of the parliament, was mur- which unanimously awarded her the banned, but cultivated as a gift of God dered in broad daylight on September 1995 Sakharov Peace Prize. In addition, to a people and of a people to its off- 3, 1993. One year later, 6 Kurdish parlia- Amnesty International and Human spring. And only in that future, Mr. mentarians were arrested for their ad- Rights Watch have raised concern Speaker, lies the promise of peace and vocacy of a peaceful resolution of the about her case. justice for the Kurds and a brighter fu- ‘‘Mr. President,’’ the letter goes on, Kurdish question. Six others, who were ture with the Turks. feeling the sword of Damocles hanging ‘‘Turkey is an important partner of the Mr. Speaker, I ask my friends to sup- on their shoulders, fled abroad to seek United States, a NATO member, and a port us as we help the peoples of Tur- political asylum in Europe, and the re- major recipient of our foreign aid, but key to leap into the future for the good maining nine Kurdish deputies in the its abuse of its Kurdish citizens and of themselves, as well as our battered parliament either resigned from their their legitimately-elected representa- humanity. posts or changed parties to save their tives is unacceptable. Mrs. Zana’s ma- Mr. Speaker, asking for a better fu- lives. jority Kurdish constituency gave her An all-out war was then declared the mandate to represent them, but the ture is what we are doing here tonight. with devastating results. Turkish government of Turkey has made an un- f troops using American weapons wanted conscionable effort to stop her. Her to silence the Kurdish resistance once voice should not be silenced. This is and for all. The Kurdish cease-fire of- just one of the many cases in which the COMMUNICATION FROM THE DEP- fers were spurned. The Kurdish vil- Turkish Government has used the UTY CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OF- lagers were forced to either take up power of the State to abuse people, FICER arms against their family members, based on their political beliefs. The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- the Kurdish rebels, or face the con- We ask you and your administration, fore the House the following commu- sequences of the destruction of their Mr. President, to raise Mrs. Zana’s case nication from John Straub, Deputy villages. Over 3,400 villages have been with the Turkish authorities at the Chief Administrative Officer: destroyed; 37,000 people, mostly Kurds, highest level and seek her immediate OFFICE OF THE CHIEF have been killed; 3 million Kurds have and unconditional release so that we ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, become refugees. may, once again, welcome her to our HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago our distin- shores.’’ Washington, DC, April 5, 20000. guished colleague from Illinois (Mr. Mr. Speaker, that was the letter that Hon. DENNIS J. HASTERT, PORTER) sent out a ‘‘Dear Colleague’’ 153 of us wrote recently. Since then, Speaker, House of Representatives, letter which was signed by 153 Members Amnesty International has adopted Washington, DC. of the 105th Congress to President Clin- Leyla Zana and her duly-elected mem- DEAR MR. SPEAKER: This is to notify you ton urging him to intervene on behalf bers of parliament as prisoners of con- formally, pursuant to Rule VIII of the Rules of Leyla Zana. A year later, in fact, the scious. In 1995 and 1998, the Noble of the House of Representatives, that I have been served with a subpoena for production gentleman from Illinois (Mr. PORTER) Peace Committee that assigns its pres- of documents to Custodian of Personnel visited her in Turkish prison and urged tigious Peace Prize to people who em- Records, U.S. House of Representatives the Turkish authorities to do the same. body our most deepest aspirations for a issued by the Superior Court of the District Unfortunately, nothing came of these more tolerant world acknowledged that of Columbia.