Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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Kurdish language
19.10 The European Commission 2006 report stated that:
“As regards cultural rights, permission was granted to two local TV channels in Diyarbakır and to one radio in Şanlıurfa to broadcast in Kurdish. However, time restrictions apply, with the exception of films and music programmes. All broadcasts, except songs, must be subtitled or translated in Turkish, which makes live broadcasts technically cumbersome. Educational programmes teaching the Kurdish language are not allowed. The Turkish Public Television (TRT) has continued broadcasting in five languages including Kurdish. However, the duration and scope of TRT's national broadcasts in five languages is very limited. No private broadcaster at national level has applied for broadcasting in languages other than Turkish since the enactment of the 2004 legislation.” [71a] (p21)
19.11 The Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report 2007, published in January 2007, recorded that “The Supreme Council for Radio and Television finally took the important step of permitting television and radio broadcasting in Kurdish, although only for one hour a day. Other restraints on minority languages in the public arena remain. In April, for example, a Diyarbakir court closed the Kurdish Democracy Culture and Solidarity Association (Kürt-Der) for infringing the Associations’ Law by conducting its internal business in Kurdish.” [9b]
19.12 The USSD 2005 recorded that “The government maintained significant restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other ethnic minority languages in radio and television broadcasts and in publications.” [5b] (Section 5)
19.13 As noted in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Human Rights Annual Report 2006, released in October 2006:
“Government reforms have already led to improvements in the cultural rights of the Kurdish community. For example, following legal changes to broadcasting rights and the launch of national broadcasting in Kurdish in 2004, two local TV channels and one local radio station began broadcasting in Kurdish on 23 March 2006. In June 2006, the Turkish broadcasting authority, RTUK, announced that they were further loosening broadcasting restrictions on certain types of non-Turkish language broadcasting. Cultural programmes, such as films and music concerts, would no longer be bound by time restrictions. However, non-cultural programming in languages other than Turkish remains tightly regulated.” [4n] (p137)
19.14 On 20 September 2005 the Turkish Daily News reported that “Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) officials are being tried at the Ankara Third Criminal Court for violating the Political Parties Law by using Kurdish to address party members at the first party convention held two years ago and sending invitations to state officials in Kurdish.” [23l] On 26 October 2005 the same newspaper reported that a court had fined 20 people YTL 100 for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish new year’s celebration in 2004. “The letters Q and W do not exist in the Turkish alphabet but are used in Kurdish… The 1928 Law on the Adoption and Application of Turkish Letters changed the Turkish alphabet from Arabic script to a modified Latin script and required all signs, advertising, newspapers and official documents to only use Turkish letters.” [23k]
19.15 The Freedom House report ‘Countries at the Crossroads 2005 – Turkey’, published in December 2004 noted that “The legalization of these [non-Turkish language] broadcasts was a major step for Kurdish rights and freedom of expression… The broadcasts have been criticized for being too short and being limited to the national station, and liberalization still has a long way to go. However, the significance of the changes cannot be overstated.” [62c] (p16)
See also Section 15.33 High Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK)
Teaching in Kurdish
19.16 The USSD 2005 report recorded that:
“A number of private Kurdish language courses closed during the year, citing a lack of students. Kurdish rights advocates said many Kurds could not afford to enroll in private classes. They also maintained that many potential applicants were intimidated because authorities required those enrolling in the courses to provide extensive documents, including police records that were not required for other courses. They maintained that the requirements intimidated prospective applicants, who feared police were keeping records on students taking the courses.” [5b] (Section 5)
19.17 The European Commission 2006 report noted that:
“Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot learn their mother tongue in the Turkish public schooling system. Such education can only be made by private education institutions. As concerns Kurdish all such courses were closed down in 2004. Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn Kurdish today in the public or private schooling system. Furthermore, there are no measures taken to facilitate access to public services for those who do not speak Turkish.” [71a] (p21)
19.18 The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Human Rights Annual Report 2006, released in October 2006, however noted:
“The private Kurdish language courses launched in 2004 closed down in 2005 due to ‘lack of demand’. According to former course administrators, the unaffordable course fees and restrictions on curriculum and participation were also important contributing factors. In 2005, the pro-Kurdish political party DEHAP (now merged with the DTP) ran a campaign demanding non-Turkish mother-tongue language teaching at ordinary state schools and asking for the constitution to be amended to enable this. The constitution currently states that only Turkish can be used as a mother tongue in schools, and political campaigning in languages other than Turkish is still illegal.” [4n] (p137)
19.19 As reported by the Turkish Daily News on 26 May 2005:
“The Supreme Court of Appeals’ General Board on Legal Matters has unanimously decided to reverse a lower court decision not to close the Education Personnel Labor Union (Eğitim-Sen). Charges filed against Eğitim-Sen were based on constitutional articles stipulating Turkey’s official language as Turkish and prohibiting the state from teaching other languages at the expense of Turkish. Eğitim-Sen’s charter allows the teaching of local dialects and languages.” [23an]