Leyla Zana, born in 1961 in the city of Silvan (Farqîn) in North Kurdistan, rose from the shadows of marginalization to become a global symbol of Kurdish dignity, defiance, and hope. Growing up in a Kurdish family in a time when speaking Kurdish itself was a crime, Leyla experienced firsthand the pain of forced assimilation and the daily humiliation of Kurdish identity under a state that denied its very existence.
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
From an early age, Leyla became aware that her people’s ancient heritage - rooted in the rugged mountains of Kurdistan - was treated as an enemy by the Turkish state. After witnessing the oppression of Kurdish villages, language, and culture, she found strength in the enduring spirit of Kurdish women who for centuries had carried the weight of survival, dignity, and resistance.
In 1991, Leyla Zana entered the Turkish parliament as the first Kurdish woman MP. Wearing a simple headband in the colors of the Kurdish flag (red, yellow, and green), she took her parliamentary oath in Turkish - and then boldly added in Kurdish:
”I take this oath for the brotherhood of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples.”
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
This single sentence shattered decades of enforced silence and made her a target of the state. Instead of silencing her, the Turkish authorities unwittingly turned her into a living symbol of the Kurdish struggle for cultural and political recognition. In 1994, Leyla Zana was sentenced to 15 years in prison for alleged “separatism” - a sentence widely condemned by the international community.
For a decade, Leyla Zana endured imprisonment with the same steadfastness seen in Kurdish history’s greatest figures. She read, wrote, and sent messages of hope from her cell, embodying the resilience of a people who had survived empires, forced migrations, and cultural bans. Her courage earned her the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1995 and inspired Kurds everywhere, especially Kurdish women, to reclaim their voice.
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
After her release in 2004, Leyla Zana continued her struggle, without bitterness and with lasting dedication to peace and to the legitimate rights of the Kurdish nation. She came to be seen as proof that the Kurdish spirit cannot be broken, and that even in chains the truth of a nation’s existence can be heard across the world.
Today Leyla Zana is honored not only as a politician but as a “daughter of the mountains” and a defender of the Kurdish language, culture and identity. She is also seen as a reminder that the Kurdish question is not one of terrorism but of an ancient people’s right to live with dignity and self-respect on their ancestral lands.
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025
• Zana, Leyla. Writings from Prison (various letters and speeches).
Posted by Zagrosian · 14 July 2025