Zana to collect EU rights award

She will travel to Brussels for the presentation on Oct. 14, a week after the European Commission presents its opinion on whether Turkey has met conditions for opening EU membership talks, officials said on Thursday.

Zana, a former pro-Kurdish parliamentarian and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was jailed for 15 years in 1994 for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize in 1995 in protest of her conviction.

She was released as part of Turkey’s bid to meet EU human rights and democracy standards, a pre-condition for membership talks, but still faces a retrial.

EU leaders will decide in December whether Ankara should get the green light to open accession talks.