Prosecutor backs deputy in speech row
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Agence France-Presse
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 17, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - A prosecutor has rejected a complaint against two Kurdish politicians who drew the ire of nationalists for speaking Kurdish in Parliament, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday. The prosecutor argued that Turkish law does not bar lawmakers from using languages other than Turkish in their speeches in Parliament, the report said.
Restrictions apply only to party programs and propaganda activities, he said.
The leader of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Türk, spoke in Kurdish during a party meeting in February, drawing criticism from fellow politicians and prompting the Parliament's television station to cut the live broadcast.
Another senior member of the DTP, Selahattin Demirtaş, also spoke in Kurdish at the same meeting. Keen to boost its bid to join the European Union, Turkey has recently granted etnically Kurdish citizens a series of cultural freedoms, among them the inauguration of a Kurdish-language television channel, TRT 6, in January.
But many continue to see the expression of Kurdish identity as a show of support for the bloody campaign that Kurdish separatists have waged since 1984. In 1991, eminent Kurdish politician Leyla Zana caused uproar in Parliament for making a brief remark in Kurdish after taking her oath. Zana and three fellow Kurdish politicians served 10 years in jail after Parliament removed their judicial immunity three years later.
The leader of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Türk, spoke in Kurdish during a party meeting in February, drawing criticism from fellow politicians and prompting the Parliament's television station to cut the live broadcast.
Another senior member of the DTP, Selahattin Demirtaş, also spoke in Kurdish at the same meeting. Keen to boost its bid to join the European Union, Turkey has recently granted etnically Kurdish citizens a series of cultural freedoms, among them the inauguration of a Kurdish-language television channel, TRT 6, in January.
But many continue to see the expression of Kurdish identity as a show of support for the bloody campaign that Kurdish separatists have waged since 1984. In 1991, eminent Kurdish politician Leyla Zana caused uproar in Parliament for making a brief remark in Kurdish after taking her oath. Zana and three fellow Kurdish politicians served 10 years in jail after Parliament removed their judicial immunity three years later.