Court case against Kurdish parliament in exile
ISTANBUL – In the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday a court case against members of the Kurdish parliament in exile will begin. The parliament was founded in The Hague in 1995. Prison sentences of 15 to 22 years are being demanded for 31 suspects, one of whom is the parliament’s president, Yaşar Kaya. They are accused of founding and leading …
Turkish president says ‘Kurdistan’
ISTANBUL – He himself is rather dismissive about it, but it hit Turkey like a bomb: during his official two day visit to Iraq, the Turkish president Gül said the ‘K-word’, that is: Kurdistan. The majority of Turks agitate strongly against the term, since it would bring closer an independent Kurdistan and thereby threaten the unity of the Turkish state.
Gül …
Turkey translates Koran into Kurdish
ISTANBUL – The Turkish Directorate for Religious Affairs, a state organ that oversees religious life in Turkey, will translate the Koran into Kurdish, daily newspaper Vatan reports today.
After Kurdish the Koran will also be translated into other languages spoken in Turkey, like Azeri and Georgian. The Koran was already translated into Turkish in the nineteen twenties. That translation was initiated …
At the end of March, local elections will be held in Turkey. The political contest in Diyarbakir, the biggest Kurdish city in the southeast of the country, will be one of the most exciting. Wordt Vervolgd talked to Kurdish youth there. Will the voter let his Kurdish or Islamic identity be heard at the ballot box?
Diyarbakir – Don’t …
Turkish state TV starts broadcasting in Kurdish
ISTANBUL – Turkish state television has opened a Kurdish channel, TRT6, on the first of January. Prime Minister Erdogan caused some excitement by declaring in Kurdish in a recorded interview for the channel that he hopes it will be beneficial. Various Kurdish artists will collaborate in the opening programme.
The channel, which will be broadcasting in Kurdish 24 hours a day, …
Stone-throwing children could be jailed for 58 years
ISTANBUL – Prison sentences of up to 58 years are being demanded by prosecutors for six children aged between 13 and 16 years. The children threw stones at the police during demonstrations in October over the alleged mistreatment in prison of PKK leader Öcalan. This is the story according to several Turkish newspapers.
The children were part of a group of …
ISTANBUL – A period of political uncertainty has come to an end in Turkey: governing party AKP will not be closed down, the Constitutional Court decided today. Various reforms and negotiations initiated by the AKP but stalled during the court case, can now be taken further. For example the accession talks with the EU and a proposed presidential visit to …
pro-Kurdish party DTP: in the shadow of the PKK
The Turkish pro-Kurdish Party for a Democratic Society (DTP) loses voters to the governing AK Party. No reason for DTP-leader Ahmet Türk to soften his opinions: “Amnesty for PKK fighters must be discussed and the murderers of Kurdish politicians, journalists and human rights activists must be brought to justice.”
The end is near for DTP, the “Party for a Democratic Society”. …
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