Trial of Leyla Zana, Former Kurdish MP

Speech by Sarah Ludford MEP delivered to European Parliament on Mon 7th Apr 2003

I just wanted to protest at the decision of a majority of the Conference of Presidents not to send a delegation from the European Parliament to the first hearing of the trial of Leyla Zana, who is of course a Sakharov Prize laureate.

This decision was, I am glad to say, opposed by the Liberal Group and also by the GUE Group, but the Conservatives, Socialists and Green Group insisted on cancelling the delegation. There had been lobbying from the Turkish side not to go, on the grounds that this was a sensitive time in Turkey. Of course it is, but since the views of the Turkish population on Iraq are shared by most EU citizens, the EU as such should be neither more nor less popular than normal.

It is always a sensitive time to raise human rights and Kurdish rights in Turkey, but if we do not, we let down Turkey itself and its prospects of getting into the EU. I therefore hope this House will join with me in deploring the majority decision in the Conference of Presidents. I understand that a delegation will be sent to the second hearing on 25 April, and I do hope that arguments will not be found to cancel that as well. I think the first decision was utterly deplorable.