Koerdische mensenrechtenactiviste ontkent systematische martelingen in Turkije (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Kurdish campaigner and human rights activist Leyla Zana has said there is no systematic torture at present in Turkey.

Speaking a press conference in Brussels today (14 October) Mrs Zana said "at present I don't believe there is systematic torture in Turkey".

Mrs Zana was in Brussels to collect the Sakharov Prize she was awarded in 1995 following her release from Turkish prison in June this year.

Receiving standing ovations from a packed European Parliament plenary she spoke in Kurdish as well as in Turkish and appealed for the brotherhood of peoples, languages and cultures.

She called on Turkey to put on its agenda the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue by giving it a proper name.

"Every living thing on earth has a name. Flowers, trees, birds, all have their names. It's only the Kurds who are without a name", she said.

For the sake of democracy

Ms Zana was the first Kurdish woman to be elected a member of the Turkish Parliament. During the parliamentary-oath taking ceremony in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1991, she spoke in Kurdish.

She was sentenced to 15 years in prison together with three fellows Kurdish MPs. Only four months ago, 9 June she left the prison, having spent ten years of her life behind bars.

"The children I left ten years ago were adults when I came out", she explained at the press conference, which was watched with pride by members of her family.

"I had to live through it for the sake of democracy", she said.

The past has seen fundamental changes in Turkey, something, which she recognised in her address to the European MEPs.

"Kurds are determined for a peaceful solution within the territorial integrity of Turkey", she said.

"Significant steps have certainly been taken towards democracy. But the implementation of these steps still seems cosmetic. Copenhagen criteria [the EU's political criteria] must be implemented in essence and not just in words", she said and was applauded at length by the full assembly.

Ms Zana called for the negotiations on Turkish EU membership to deal with the Kurdish issue.

"Accession negotiations must start immediately by reminding Turkey of her responsibilities concerning the Kurdish issue".

The EU's human rights prize was launched in 1988 in honour of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.