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European court rejects Turkish Kurd
discrimination case
3.2.2010 |
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European Human Rights Court Rules Against Use Of
Letters "Q", "W", "X" In Turkey Legal Names
February
3, 2010
STRASBOURG, —
Europe's top rights court Tuesday turned down a
discrimination case by eight Kurds who were barred
by Turkish courts from changing their Turkish names
to Kurdish ones.
Kemal Taskin and seven others had asked the European
court of human rights to intervene after the Turkish
courts rejected their request as some of the letters
in the new names do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet.
Taskin wanted to change his name from Kemal to
Dilxwaz, which means "the cherished one" in Kurdish.
The other proposed names included Xosewist ("the
noble one") and Berxwedan ("resistance").
Their request was turned down by Turkish courts who
argued that the letters q, w and x do not exist in
the 29-letter Turkish alphabet.
But the European court said there was "nothing to
suggest that the Turkish authorities would have
reacted differently if ... the request was made by
non-Kurdish individuals."
The judges rejected the plaintiffs' appeal that the
ruling infringed on their personal life and was
discriminatory.
The Turkish government plans to expand Kurdish
freedoms in return for ending a deadly 25-year
insurgency by the outlawed Turkey Kurdistan Workers'
Party,www.ekurd.netor
PKK for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast.
Since 1984 PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
The PKK is considered a
'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK
continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite
court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
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.
Last August, the government announced plans to expand
Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support
for the PKK and end the insurgency.
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