TRT agrees to broadcast in Kurdish

Turkey passed constitutional amendments allowing for Kurdish TV and radio broadcasts nearly two years ago, but bureaucratic entanglements prevented the implementation of the changes. No programs in Kurdish have yet been aired, sparking criticism from the EU.

The conservative establishment fears Kurdish in the public sphere could undermine national unity after a separatist conflict in the 1980s and 1990s claimed more than 30,000 lives.

"[State broadcaster] TRT has decided to establish the infrastructure needed to broadcast the languages and dialects that reflect our sub-cultures," TRT General Manager Senol Demiroz told a news conference.

While Demiroz avoided mentioning which dialects or languages would be used in these broadcasts, he emphasized the unification of sub-cultures under the higher national identity of being a Turk and the fact that Turkish was the sole official language.

"It’s not possible to give an exact date when TRT will start the broadcasts, but no legal changes are necessary," he said, adding that preparations for such broadcasting could take days or weeks.

The specific regulations that allowed broadcasting in Kurdish were passed almost four months ago, but debates between TRT executives and the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) failed to result in any tangible progress on the matter.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s meetings with TRT and RTUK officials eventually resulted in the TRT Executive Council discussing the matter on Tuesday and deciding to start work on broadcasting in Kurdish.

The government has signaled it would like to see the broadcasts begin by the time the European Commission starts its report next month on Turkey’s progress in meeting EU standards.

When Demiroz was asked why the TRT Executive Council had not taken such a decision before, even though the relevant laws were in place, he said they had made this decision as soon as they had concluded that there were no legal obstacles preventing such broadcasts.

Ankara is lobbying the EU to give it a date to begin entry talks next year when the bloc meets in December. Turkey is the only EU candidate not negotiating its entry into the bloc because of its poor human rights record.

A handful of schools teaching Kurdish have opened in recent months after the ban teaching and broadcasting in Kurdish was scrapped in 2002.

The Kurdish separatist terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched a bloody campaign for an ethnic homeland in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish Southeast in 1984. The conflict largely ended when PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured and jailed in 1999.