Leyla Zana • له‌یلا زانا
Leyla is a politician and first Kurdish woman to win a seat in the Turkish parliament in 1991. She was imprisoned in 1994 for 10 years due to her political activism which Turkish courts deemed against the unity of the country. Leyla published a book while in prison entitled “Writings from Prison.” She was later elected as an independent member of parliament in Diyarbakir with the support of the Peace and Democracy Party.
Leyla was awarded the Rafto Prize in 1994 and The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize in 1995 for her peaceful struggle and activism for Kurdish rights in Turkey and neighboring countries, although she was unable to collect the prizes until she was released from prison in 2004. Amnesty International deemed her as a prisoner of conscience as she advocated for human rights. She has twice in a row been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize.
له‌یلا یه‌که‌مین ئافره‌تی کورده که کورسیه‌کی په‌رله‌مانی تورکیا به‌ده‌ست بێنێت له ساڵی ۱۹۹۱ له ساڵی ۱۹۹٤ ده‌ستگیرکرا له‌به‌ر چالاکییه سیاسییه‌کانی بۆ ده ساڵ، له ساڵی ۱۹۹٤ خه‌لاتی ڕافتۆی پێ به‌خشرا وه له ساڵی ۱۹۹٥ خه‌ڵاتی شارکۆڤی پێ به‌خشرا له لایه‌ن په‌رله‌مانی ئه‌وروپ بۆ کاره ئاشتیخوازه‌کانی بۆ به ده‌ست هێنانی مافی کورد له تورکیا و ولاتانی ده‌ورو به‌ر