Leyla Yunus

Overview

Leyla Yunus born Baku, Azerbaijan December 21, 1955. Historian. Azeri peacemaker and human rights activist. Co-founder and Director of Azerbaijan Institute for Peace & Democracy. Advocated for perestroika, 1988; involved in Nagorno-Karabakh peacemaking, 1992-93; arrested and beaten, 2014. Promoted reconciliation with Armenia. Awarded Sakharov Freedom Prize, 2014.

Quotations

"Direct all of the force of your repressive mechanism, which includes assault, car accidents, murders and the whole arsenal, against me personally, a woman whose only weapon is a word. I demand you immediately stop the crackdown and persecution of my colleagues and their families!" (Aug. 31, 2011, in Huffington Post, Oct. 10, 2011; photo meydan.tv)