NEZAN, KENDAL

(1949- )

Kendal Nezan is a Turkish Kurdish physicist who fled fromTurkeyin 1971 and has since become a major critic of the Turkish government's policies toward the Kurds. Over the years he has developed close ties with theFrenchgovernment, in particular with Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of the late socialist president Francois Mitterrand (served 1981-1995). For many years Kendal Nezan has headed theInstitut Kurde de Paris, which receives financial support from the French Foreign Ministry and the Fonds d'action social (FAS).