Leyla Zana (1991) A Kurdish Woman in the Turkish Parliament

Following a 16 year stretch in a Turkish Jail (for being Kurdish), Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament in 1991. “In what may be her most famous act, Leyla Zana swore into the Turkish parliament, reciting the necessary words in Turkish, and adding a Kurdish sentence at the end of the oath. While the Kurdish language had been recently legalized to be spoken in private, it was still illegal in public, and many Turkish parliamentarians were outraged.“ () Be