JINHA

ANKARA – Leyla Zana, imprisoned 21 years ago for discussing Kurdish issues in Turkey's Parliament, has taken her oath and been sworn in as a Parliamentary representative.

Leyla Zana, recently elected to the Parliament with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), took to the lectern yesterday to swear her oath for the Turkish Parliament. Leyla will represent the largely Kurdish province of Ağrı in eastern Turkey.

This was not Leyla's first time reading the oath. In 1991, Leyla led an electoral campaign that won the massive support of women in the Kurdish region. Voters sent her to Parliament as a representative of the Social Democratic Popular Party (SHP) from Diyarbakır province. On November 6th, 1991, the day of the swearing-in ceremony for Turkey's Parliament, Leyla strode to the front of the chamber with a headband in the red, yellow and green colors of the Kurdish flag. After reading the oath in Turkish, she added a final sentence to the end, in Kurdish: "I dedicate this oath to the brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples."

The Parliament exploded in racist insults and Leyla was chased from the lectern. Tensions continued for the Kurdish politicians in the Parliament; in 1994, the diplomatic immunity of five Kurdish politicians was lifted. An Ankara court ordered an immediate investigation into the politicians, including Leyla. Prime Minister at the time, Tansu Çiller, had previously said that the Kurdish representatives were "making our people uncomfortable" by their presence in the Parliament.In March 1994, Leyla was arrested and issued a 15-year prison sentence.

Yesterday, Leyla gave her oath without incident and entered Turkey's Parliament for the third time.

(gc/cm)