Turkish famous artist investigated for
spreading hate
23.9.2009
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September
23, 2009
ISTANBUL, Turkey, — The famous Turkish artist
Hülya Avşar is under investigation by the District
Attorney’s Office for allegedly inciting hate and
enmity in an interview. In the interview with
Milliyet, Avşar said hat Kurds and Turks should be
equal.
Avşar, in an interview with daily Milliyet in
August, was cautious about the government’s efforts
to address the grievances of Kurds through more
democracy.
She had said once the process started, there would
be no turning back and that this fact scared her.
Singer Avşar, whose father is Kurdish and mother
Turkish,www.ekurd.netsaid
she saw herself as a Turk and noted that Turks
naturally did not want their country divided.
“However, this shouldn’t mean ethnic pressure on
Kurds,” she said in an interview with the Turkish
daily Milliyet. |

Singer Avşar, whose father is Kurdish and mother
Turkish, said she saw herself as a Turk |
If charged and found
guilty by court, Avşar will face up to four and a
half years in jail.
She also said that members of the outlawed Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, would not return by
choice once the Kurdish initiative began.
When asked if she supported the government’s plans,
she said: “I have no idea what it is.”
When asked by Hürriyet to comment on the
investigation, Avşar said she had never felt so
insulted.
“I thought we lived in a democratic country when I
made those remarks,” she said as she showed the
invitation by the prosecutor’s office for
questioning.
If the reaction to her comments was an
investigation, how could the Kurdish initiative make
any headway, she asked.
The chairman of the Union of Modern Journalists (ÇGD)
criticized the decision of the District Attorney and
said the state wants to frighten people to speak out
on Kurdish rights. “You cannot say everything what
you think in Turkey.”
Sunday a court case was started against Milliyet
reporters Namik Durukan and Hassan Çakkalkurt for
making ‘terrorist propaganda’ after reporting about
the PKK. “Don’t write about these subjects,” the
prosecutor said to the journalists,www.ekurd.netaccording
to Abakay.
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan). A large Turkey's Kurdish
community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels. Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish
population as a distinct minority.
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.
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.
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,
hurriyetdailynews com | Agencies
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