Women Parliamentarians Support Leyla Zana

The 4th Annual Parliamentary session of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was held in Ottawa,
Canada from July 4-8, 1995. At this meeting, a Green Member of
Parliament from Finland, Tuija Maaret Pykalainen, distributed a
petition during the women's caucus which called for the immediate
release of Leyla Zana from prison. This petition was signed by
nearly all the women delegates present at the caucus.


Appeal To The Turkish Government From Members Of The OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly

July 6, 1995

     We, as Members of Parliament from a variety of nations, and
as women, are concerned about the fate of a fellow woman Member
of Parliament from Turkey, Leyla Zana. Mrs. Zana was duly elected
to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October 1991. She was
arrested in March 1994 and charged with "high treason". The
Prosecutor asked for the death penalty, but she and five other
Members of Parliament were sentenced to prison. Leyla Zana
herself was given a sentence of 15 years. Her only crime was
being a Kurd and speaking out in the Turkish Parliament for the
rights of the Kurdish people.
     An OSCE Parliamentary Delegation visited Leyla Zana in
prison during its visit to Turkey from May 1-6 of this year. This
OSCE Delegation has called for the immediate release of the
imprisoned Kurdish Members of Parliament, perhaps by means of an
amnesty.
     We would like to support this call for the release of the
MPs imprisoned in Turkey, in particular our colleague Leyla Zana. 

Sincerely,

Women delegates to the 4th Annual OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: 

Ms. Tuija Maaret Pykalainen, MP, Finland
Ms. Kaisa Maria Aula, MP, Finland
Mrs. Maija Perho-Santala, MP, Finland
Mrs. Elena B. Mizulina, MP, Russia
Mrs. Maria Gaidash, MP, Russia
Ms. Nina Markovsky, MP, Ukraine
Mrs. Lili Nabholz, MP, Switzerland
Mrs. Feroniki Tzavella, MP, Greece
Mrs. Paddy Torsney, MP, Canada
Mrs. Anne-Marie Lizin, MP, Belgium
Mrs. Josi Meier, MP, Switzerland
Mrs. Edith Haller, MP, Austria
Mrs. Kristina Svensson, MP, Sweden
Mrs. Dorota Simonides, MP, Poland
Mrs. Maud Bjornemalm, MP, Sweden
Mrs. Karin Wegestal, MP, Sweden
Mrs. Helle Degn, MP, Denmark
Ms. Bjorg Hope Galtung, MP, Norway
Ms. Kirsti Kolle Groendahl, MP, Norway
Mrs. Helena Nilsson, MP, Sweden
Ms. Katrin Fuchs, MP, Germany