senheiser
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Since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Kurdish minority has faced oppression and discrimination -- their language and culture were banned, and their rights to sovereignty were repressed.
Sefer, a Kurd who runs a restaurant in Turkey.
ISTANBUL: The confusion and chaos of the Syrian civil war has given one group of people an opportunity to assert itself -- the Kurds.
Recently, the Kurds declared an autonomous provincial government in northern Syria.
Across the border in Turkey, where one in five people is Kurdish, the Istanbul government is eyeing the developments with concern, and is stretching out a hand to try and calm things down.
Since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Kurdish minority has faced oppression and discrimination -- their language and culture were banned, and their rights to sovereignty were repressed.
Mehmet Sezgin, editor of Kurdish magazine Demokratik Modernite, said: “It’s shameful for us to speak like a Kurd, dress like a Kurd, laugh like a Kurd and live like a Kurd.”
Although Turkey is a proud democracy, rights of minorities were effectively repressed in the country when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the republic and attempted to bring everyone together to identify simply as Turks, rather than allowing a multicultural society.
For Mehmet, identifying as a Kurd has had catastrophic consequences.
He believes he was wrongly blamed for setting buses on fire, and imprisoned simply because he was Kurdish and stood up for his identity.
“I was imprisoned and tortured, and my trial is still ongoing. I was convicted recently,” said Mehmet.
Mehmet is not the only one who has been on the receiving end of police brutality.
Sefer, who runs a restaurant in Tarbala, a predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood, knows that being a Kurd in Turkey can be dangerous business.
“When the police want to check your identification, (and you are revealed as being Kurdish), you’ll get insulted, and sometimes you get beaten up. These things are not seen, but they are happening,” he said.
The Kurdish minority in Turkey number around 14 million -- about one-fifth of the population.
Mistreatment of Kurds is widespread -- from difficulties in finding jobs to forming friendships.
Cansah Celik, from the Peace and Democracy Party Women’s Council, said: “They will not give you houses or jobs, and even socially, your neighbours will end their relationship with you if they find out you are a Kurd.”
Now, the Turkish government is taking a series of steps to improve the situation of
Kurdish people in an effort to achieve peace and stability.
The government recently announced that the Kurdish alphabet, formerly banned, will be reinstated, village names will return to their original Kurdish, and education in the "mother tongue" will be allowed in private schools.
But not everyone is convinced that those reforms will make a difference.
An increasing number of Kurds believe that it is only through their own leadership and campaigning for change that full democracy will come to Turkey.
After years of broken promises to improve the situation, Kurds no longer believe in the Turkish government.
With elections set for next year, any step made by Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is viewed as a political tactic, rather than a sincere desire to instate equality.
- CNA/nd
ISTANBUL: The confusion and chaos of the Syrian civil war has given one group of people an opportunity to assert itself -- the Kurds.
Recently, the Kurds declared an autonomous provincial government in northern Syria.
Across the border in Turkey, where one in five people is Kurdish, the Istanbul government is eyeing the developments with concern, and is stretching out a hand to try and calm things down.
Since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Kurdish minority has faced oppression and discrimination -- their language and culture were banned, and their rights to sovereignty were repressed.
Mehmet Sezgin, editor of Kurdish magazine Demokratik Modernite, said: “It’s shameful for us to speak like a Kurd, dress like a Kurd, laugh like a Kurd and live like a Kurd.”
Although Turkey is a proud democracy, rights of minorities were effectively repressed in the country when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the republic and attempted to bring everyone together to identify simply as Turks, rather than allowing a multicultural society.
For Mehmet, identifying as a Kurd has had catastrophic consequences.
He believes he was wrongly blamed for setting buses on fire, and imprisoned simply because he was Kurdish and stood up for his identity.
“I was imprisoned and tortured, and my trial is still ongoing. I was convicted recently,” said Mehmet.
Mehmet is not the only one who has been on the receiving end of police brutality.
Sefer, who runs a restaurant in Tarbala, a predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood, knows that being a Kurd in Turkey can be dangerous business.
“When the police want to check your identification, (and you are revealed as being Kurdish), you’ll get insulted, and sometimes you get beaten up. These things are not seen, but they are happening,” he said.
The Kurdish minority in Turkey number around 14 million -- about one-fifth of the population.
Mistreatment of Kurds is widespread -- from difficulties in finding jobs to forming friendships.
Cansah Celik, from the Peace and Democracy Party Women’s Council, said: “They will not give you houses or jobs, and even socially, your neighbours will end their relationship with you if they find out you are a Kurd.”
Now, the Turkish government is taking a series of steps to improve the situation of
Kurdish people in an effort to achieve peace and stability.
The government recently announced that the Kurdish alphabet, formerly banned, will be reinstated, village names will return to their original Kurdish, and education in the "mother tongue" will be allowed in private schools.
But not everyone is convinced that those reforms will make a difference.
An increasing number of Kurds believe that it is only through their own leadership and campaigning for change that full democracy will come to Turkey.
After years of broken promises to improve the situation, Kurds no longer believe in the Turkish government.
With elections set for next year, any step made by Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is viewed as a political tactic, rather than a sincere desire to instate equality.
- CNA/nd
