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Turkey passes law to allow minority
languages on TV
31.5.2008
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May
31, 2008
ANKARA, — Parliament passed a bill on
Thursday allowing the state-owned television Turkish
Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) to broadcast
programs in languages other than Turkish, paving the
way for broadcasts in Kurdish, Arabic and Farsi.
TRT will now be able to allocate one of its channels
to 24-hour broadcasts in Kurdish. TRT General
Director Ibrahim Şahin has said they plan to
broadcast in Kurdish, Arabic and Farsi in the
initial stages of their non-Turkish programming.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted at this
in a speech in Diyarbakir on Tuesday, when he
announced the government's plan to resuscitate the
Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP).
State broadcaster TRT began airing weekly 30-minute
programs in Kurdish and several other minority
languages in 2004 as part of Turkey's bid to join
the European Union. But the Turkish political and
military establishment has long feared that
encouraging minority languages might harm unity
among Turkey's 72 million people. Commentators say
the latest move is an attempt to attract viewers in
the mainly Kurdish Southeast away from Denmark-based
Roj TV,www.ekurd.net
the most popular Kurdish
regional station that authorities regard as a
mouthpiece for the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).
During parliamentary negotiations over the bill that
amended the law on TRT, a motion to allow TRT to air
programs in languages other than Turkish was
submitted to become part of the law, sparking
reaction from the opposition parties.
Hasip Kaplan, a deputy for Şirnak from the
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), lent
support to the motion, saying: "It is cultural
vandalism to ban 20 million Kurdish people from
speaking their mother tongue. These 20 million
Kurdish citizens, who perform their military service
and pay their taxes, have the right to expect TRT to
broadcast in the Kurdish language. Our country will
not be divided by just singing folk songs or reading
poems. Instead, this will strengthen our
brotherhood."
TRT broadcasts in Kurdish may boost the morale of
Kurdish citizens, some intellectuals have suggested.
Tarik Ziya Ekinci, a prominent Kurdish intellectual,
suggested that Kurdish broadcasting would contribute
greatly to the establishment of social peace in
Turkey. "This is an important step, and I believe it
will help the bloodshed to be stopped and guns to be
silenced," he said. Şerafettin Elçi, leader of the
pro-Kurdish Participatory Democracy Party (KADEP),
voiced the opinion that the move would make Kurdish
citizens believe the state values them.
Elçi further suggested that official acceptance of
the Kurdish language would boost the morale of
society, adding: "Until now, the official policy has
been the denial of existence of a Kurdish language.
This meant the rejection and denial of Kurds. This
bill sends the message that this policy is being
dropped. From this point of view, it is quite
significant. It is important in terms of official
acceptance of the Kurdish language. However, if the
programs broadcast follow the lines of the state's
official policy, they will not mean much to Kurds.
It would be much more meaningful to grant more
freedom to private TV networks that are more
responsive to popular demand," he said.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
todayszaman com | Agencies
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a large
Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with
the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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