Turkish president in Kurd region: one-language policy stands

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Istanbul - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday reiterated that Turkish is the country's only official language during a trip to the country's primarily Kurdish south-eastern region.

The trip was aimed at easing recent tensions over Kurdish issues.

"The official language of the Turkish Republic is Turkish, and it will continue this way. Moreover, the language of the state and of public institutions is Turkish; it is our common language," Gul said, according to the semi-official Anatolia Agency.

Gul's two-day trip to Diyarbakir, Turkey's largest Kurdish- majority city, comes in the wake of a period of heated debate in Turkey about Kurdish rights following a recent proposal by Kurdish groups for the establishment of a politically autonomous Kurdish region in south-eastern Turkey.

Earlier this month, the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) also called for education of Kurdish citizens in their mother tongue and for a policy of "bilingualism" in municipalities that are largely Kurdish.

Kurds are estimated to make up around 20 per cent of Turkey's population, but have long faced discrimination against and restrictions on their linguistic and cultural self-expression.

The recent debates prompted Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) on Wednesday to issue a strong statement against proposals for more widespread use of the Kurdish language. Stating that Turkish is the country's official language, the MGK warned that: "Initiatives aiming to change this fact are unacceptable."

Though Gul characterized his visit to Diyarbakir - his second since he became president in 2007 - as a regular visit, it was nonetheless timed as a goodwill trip to soothe political tensions.

"I am here to see Diyarbakir's problems first-hand," the president announced at a meeting with Diyarbakir mayor Osman Baydemir.

Baydemir, who belongs to the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), presented Gul with a Turkish-Kurdish dictionary and said attempts to deal with Kurdish issues solely as a security problem have been unsuccessful.

Calling the Kurdish issue "Turkey's biggest problem," Baydemir said, "The lack of tolerance toward demands and suggestions by Kurdish politicians regarding the mother tongue and democratic autonomy is very worrisome."

The president accepted the dictionary and acknowledged that the different languages spoken by Turkish citizens add to the country's diversity.

"Our constitution gives us the duty of protecting cultural heritage. These [languages] are partly a cultural heritage, partly a living heritage," he said.

Gul, who received a warm welcome in Diyarbakir without any political protest, was also scheduled to meet with other officials, tour the city's industrial zone and visit Dicle University.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360191,region-one-language-policy-stands.html.