7 -13 December 2000
Issue No.511
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Kurdish tongue for Turkish state
By Gareth JenkinsTurkey edged towards easing its draconian restrictions on the expression of a Kurdish identity last week as government officials announced they would consider allowing the broadcasting of Kurdish language television programmes on state-controlled Turkish Radio and Television (TRT).
In late November, Turkey's spy chief, Senkul Atasagun, stunned ultra-nationalists and liberals alike by announcing that the country's powerful National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) would not object to limited broadcasting in Kurdish. On Friday, Mustafa Bumin, the chief justice of the Turkish Constitutional Court, which has a record of banning pro-Kurdish political parties, announced that work had begun on legal amendments to allow Kurdish broadcasting.
"It is impossible to have Kurdish as an official language, of course," Bumin said. "But a new arrangement is being considered in order to let these people have a broadcasting facility of their own."
Last Thursday, former naval commander Admiral Salim Dervisoglu gave the military's support. "I don't believe that Kurdish broadcasting presents any problem," he said. "But considerable care should be taken with regard to how it will be implemented."
At first sight, such statements represent a remarkable turnaround in official attitudes. Only a decade ago, Ankara denied the existence of Kurds, insisting that its 12 million Kurdish citizens were "mountain Turks". Speaking Kurdish was officially forbidden, even though many Kurds in the rural south-east knew no other language. Any mention of the words "Kurd" or "Kurdish" was an offence punishable by imprisonment.
But privately, both military and civilian officials admit that the proposal to introduce Kurdish language broadcasting is a tactical move. On Tuesday, the EU approved the Partnership Accession Document, which sets out the criteria for Turkish accession and clearly states that Ankara has to ease restrictions on the use of Kurdish and the expression of a Kurdish identity before it can hope to become an EU member.
However, the main reason for Ankara's apparent change of heart is that the Turkish government realises that, although it has defeated the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on the battlefield, it is now in danger of losing the propaganda war. At the moment, the only television channel broadcasting in Kurdish is Medya TV, which beams a stream of pro-PKK propaganda into the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey by satellite from its base in Europe.
"Wherever you go in the southeast you see satellite dishes on roofs so that they can watch Medya TV," said a source close to the Turkish military. "If our citizens of Kurdish origin are going to watch television in Kurdish, then it is much better that they listen to the state rather than the PKK."
Significantly, all the recent proposals for the Kurdish television assume that programmes will be broadcast by the state-controlled TRT rather than privately owned television channels. But, ironically, the ban on Kurdish has left the Turkish state at a considerable disadvantage.
"Before we can begin broadcasting on TRT we have to find and train reporters, producers and translators who can speak the different Kurdish dialects," admitted a government official. "This could take some time."
The proposals have been welcomed by the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP). "We find it positive that such a debate has started at the upper levels of the state," commented HADEP Chairman Murat Bozlak, who currently faces criminal charges and a possible jail sentence for allegedly expressing separatist sentiments by referring to a distinct Kurdish identity.
Despite support from the Turkish military, the proposals have been harshly criticised by the ultra-nationalist National Action Party (MHP), the second largest party in Turkey's tripartite coalition government.
"Broadcasting in Kurdish would disrupt the unity and harmony of the Turkish nation," declared MHP chairman and deputy prime minister, Devlet Bahceli. Privately, MHP officials warn that any attempt to introduce Kurdish broadcasting could trigger a fierce ultra-nationalist backlash which could split the coalition and bring down the government.
The proposals have also awakened the latent paranoia that often underlies Turks' views of the outside world. "Some countries are seeking to divide Turkey just like they did at the end of World War I," warned columnist Ismet Solak in best-selling daily Hurriyet. "And there are, in Turkey, their collaborators -- traitors who have sold out. If you start by permitting Kurdish television, there will be no turning back. You will have done irreparable harm to the country. Can't anybody see this?"
Related stories:
Ankara's EU chances slipping 23 - 29 November 2000
Banning the Kurds 9 - 15 March 2000
Ocalan racing against time 7 - 13 October 1999
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
