Zana to adress EU assembly, receive Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize was given to her husband Mehdi Zana in 1996 in her absence due to her imprisonment in Turkey. On her Brussels trip, Zana is accompanied by former DEP parliamentarians Orhan Dogan, Hatip Dicle and Selim Sadak with whom she served 10 years in prison until June 2004.

The prize, named after the late-Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded yearly since 1988 to people who defend human rights and democracy.

Zana was originally arrested in the Turkish Parliament 10 years ago after delivering a speech in Kurdish and Turkish. News reports say part of her planned speach at the European assembly would be in Kurdish.

Zana, Dogan, Dicla and Sadak were found guilty on charges of separatism and alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after their address to Turkish parliament and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the then State Security Court.

In an effort to meet the EU’s membership criteria, the Turkish government has enacted a sway of political reforms allowing retrial of Zana and three others in line with the European Court of Human Rights rulings. Ankara’s decision to scarp the much-controversial state security courts eventually made way for their release.

The former parliamentarians have met the group leaders at the European Parliament and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The European Greens welcomed her with a reception at parliament.

Zana told the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee that Turkey was moving fast towards European values.

The bloc’s executive recommended last week that Turkey has met the political and economic criteria, including on human rights, to start accession talks.

"I can say that there has been great progress and physical change," said Zana, adding that in particular the widespread practice of torture was dying out. "Today in some local and isolated places torture may take place, but I can easily say that it is not systematic as it was in the past."

The European Parliament awarded Zana its Sakharov prize for human rights in 1995 in protest against her imprisonment. "We’ve waited a long time to have you here — nine years in fact," the committee’s chairman Elmar Brok said as he welcomed her.