STOCKHOLM (CIHAN) - Mehdi Zana, the husband of the recently-released ex-deputy of the now-defunct Democracy Party (DEP) Leyla Zana, said on Thursday, in a special interview given to Cihan News Agency in Sweden where he now lives, that great steps have been taken towards securing peace between Turks and Kurds in Turkey.
Zana said that he had escaped from Turkey and fled to Europe but that this move was an error which he now regretted.
Mehdi Zana, who fled Turkey in 1980 to avoid an 11-month prison term, said that he would return to Turkey at the end of this month even though he would possibly be put in prison. Zana said that he should have stayed in Turkey even though it would have meant imprisonment.
The former Mayor of the southeastern Anatolian city of Diyarbakir, Mehdi Zana said that the release of his wife, Leyla Zana, was a surprise for him. He added, "I heard the news in France. I was very excited."
The Turkish Supreme Court of Justice 9th District Penal Court recently ordered the release pending appeal of the four ex-MPs of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish DEP, Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Doðan and Selim Sadak. The four have served 10 years of their 15-year sentences in Ankara Ulucanlar prison.
The four former deputies had been elected to parliament from several southeastern Turkish cities including Diyarbakýr in 1991.
Mehdi Zana was sentenced to 11 months in prison due to the publication of a book of Kurdish poetry written by him.
Mehdi Zana said that he had missed Turkey greatly. He added he had lived together with Leyla Zana for only 5 years out of the 29 years of their married life.
Mehdi Zana said that great steps have been taken to solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey in recent years, and he added, "I see the steps taken in Turkey as great steps towards securing peace between Turks and Kurds, even though these steps have been seen as little steps by some circles in Turkey".
Zana said that he had made some mistakes in the past but that he had never been in favor of armed action. " I was in prison for 16 years. I have never been in favor of armed action. I have always acted according to the law."