Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out in solidarity with an Edmonton man, Mr. Ekrom Kolay, who is in his sixth day of a hunger strike in support of imprisoned Turkish member of Parliament Leyla Zana.
Zana, the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament, was jailed with other MPs in 1994 for speaking out against the brutality and violence of the Turkish government against the Kurds and the destruction of their villages.
I appeal to the Government of Canada to call for the release of Leyla Zana, winner of the 1995 European Sakharov peace prize, and to urge the Turkish government to enter into a dialogue with the Kurds that respects their right to self-determination and fundamental human rights.
Too many writers and journalists have been jailed and murdered. Too many innocent Kurds have been jailed, murdered and tortured. Now is the time for peace and reconciliation.