Layla Zana nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Norway NRK media group has announced the nomination, the daily and some other Turkey papers said, adding that former US President Bill Clinton, Pakistani teenage activist Mallalah Yusufzai and Bradly Maning are Zana’s main rivals for the prize.
Zana was born in May 1961, in Silvan, Diyarbakir Province, in the southeast of Turkey. When she was 14 years old, she was married to Mehdi Zana who was the mayor of Diyarbakir until the military coup d'état and a political prisoner after it.
In 1994 she became the first Kurdish woman to win a seat in the Turkish parliament. She spoke Kurdish on the floor of the parliament after being sworn in, even though it was known to be illegal. Only in that year, 1991, was the Kurdish language finally legalized, though speaking Kurdish remained illegal in public spaces, as Zana was sworn in.
kurdpress
