And suddenly Kurdishness becomes cool

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And suddenly Kurdishness becomes cool
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 03, 2009 00:00

ISTANBUL -When Turkey’s pop superstar Ajda Pekkan sang the Kurdish song "Keçe Kurdan" (Kurdish girl) during a benefit concert, it inspired headlines as Pekkan’s gesture received great media attention and was regarded as a symbol of fraternity.

When the same song was played by private radio station Dünya Radio two years ago, however, it caused an executive director to be taken to court for inciting violence among the public. Interestingly enough, it was last week that the court finally decided "Keçe Kurdan" was not actually an incitement to violence.

"There were rumors of the acquittal decision after Pekkan sang the same song," said Kenan Karavil, a Dünya Radio executive. "So we are not that surprised about the final decision. What we are sad about is the fact that only after Pekkan sang the song was our issue brought before the public eye," said Karavil.

Kurdish journalist and writer Muhsin Kızılkaya, on the other hand, finds Pekkan’s gesture a positive one. "Ajda Pekkan used to convert popular French and English songs into Turkish. Until today she was unaware of the existence of another population, which is closer to hers than the others. Plus, she has no political history or background and that actually makes her gesture more powerful," said Kızılkaya. "If it was done by other politically-conscious singers, it wouldn’t mean so much. Pekkan is speaking to a different audience. If singers like her had acted so 20 years ago, we would be in a different place."

Pekkan’s song is not the only example of the Kurdish issue being pulled into the sphere of popular culture. Another singer of Kurdish origin, Mahsun Kırmızıgül, recently made a film that speaks about Kurdishness and its problems.

"Mahsun had been working on that film for a while. I think it was a coincidence that his film was released during this time," said Kızılkaya.

Yet Kırmızıgül was another figure who 10 years ago had not opposed his compatriot being yelled at on stage. "Of course there are some people who are going to jump on the subject and make use of it. But that doesn’t mean we should disregard the positive ones. Those are in fact the ones we should cling to," said Kızılkaya.

However much it is looked down on, popular culture, especially film and music has always managed to address bigger crowds than other means of art. Indeed, in the ’90s there were many young artists in Turkey who had spoken out about the problems between Turkey and Kurds, yet not managed to reach such an audience.

"We have spoken about many issues regarding the Kurdish issue since the1990s but it was always confined to a specific audience," said contemporary artist Halil Altındere. "There was especially a generation of young artists in 1995 who opened up subjects such as the evacuated villages in southeastern Turkey.

Filmmaker Hasan Karabey made a film a long time ago about Kurdish mothers who lost their children and never saw them again. "Today I see there are many artists who have taken an interest in such subjects but only after things have calmed down," Altındere said. Turkey’s recent transformation regarding the Kurdish issue is indeed peculiar. Not only singers and filmmakers are speaking more openly about the subject but also politicians and statesmen seem more confident when it comes to pronounce the "K" word. Yet, there are numerous cases that ignore the existence of the Kurdish identity in Turkey, such as the spelling of the spring festival Nevruz in place of the Kurdish spelling "Newroz." During this year’s festival preparations, an application from the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, was rejected by the government of Kars, a city in eastern Turkey, for its using the letter "w," a letter that is not used in the Turkish alphabet.

Bureaucracy should not rule

Kızılkaya said he thinks that when it comes to such cases bureaucracy should not be taken as the overarching power. "Bureaucracy has a very strong position in Turkey and it will always want to keep its authority," he said. But Karavil from Dünya Radio does not seem optimistic. "Politicians are still being punished for speaking Kurdish. On the other hand, when the ruling party uses the Kurdish flag for propaganda, there is no punishment. As long as these discrepancies exist, the other developments mean nothing," said Karavil.
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