Leyla Zana
Awards & Honours
2
Awards Won
3
Honours
2
Records
Leyla Zana's accolades reflect a life dedicated to human rights under extraordinary adversity. Winning the Sakharov Prize in 1995, while imprisoned, placed her among the world's most prominent dissidents. The Rafto Prize in 1994 similarly recognized her peaceful advocacy. Her two Nobel Peace Prize nominations, in 1995 and 1998, underscore the international regard for her work. These honors are all the more remarkable given that she could not accept the Sakharov Prize in person until 2004, after her release.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Awarded for her courageous defence of human rights and commitment to peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.
Rafto Prize
Recognized for her peaceful struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey and neighbouring countries.
Prisoner of Conscience
Designated as a Prisoner of Conscience for her imprisonment on charges related to her peaceful advocacy.
Records & Feats
First Kurdish woman elected to Turkish Parliament
In 1991, Leyla Zana became the first and only ethnically Kurdish woman elected to Turkey's parliament at that time.
Took parliamentary oath in Kurdish
She defied a legal ban on speaking Kurdish in public by delivering her oath in Kurdish, a historic act of protest.