Only in that year, 1991, was the Kurdish language finally legalized, though speaking Kurdish remained illegal in public spaces, as Zana was sworn in. The Kurdish language, even when spoken in private, had been illegal for years in Turkey. She created a scandal when she spoke Kurdish on the floor of the parliament after being sworn in, even though it was known to be illegal. In 1991 Zana was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on behalf of the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP). When she was 14 years old, she was married to Mehdi Zana, who was the mayor of Diyarbakır until the military coup d'état and a political prisoner after it. She was born in May 1961, in Silvan, Diyarbakır Province, in the southeast of Turkey.
She was also awarded the Rafto Prize in 1994 after being recognized by the Rafto Foundation for being incarcerated for her peaceful struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey and the neighbouring countries.
She was awarded the 1995 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, but was unable to collect it until her release in 2004. Leyla Zana Leyla Zana (born03-05-1961) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin who was imprisoned for ten years for her political activism, which was deemed by the Turkish courts to be against the unity of the country.
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