A prominent Kurdish lawmaker gave a speech in his native Kurdish in Turkey's Parliament Feb. 24—in defiance of the law. Turkey's state TV network cut off the live broadcast of the official, Ahmet Turk, as he spoke to members of his political party, the Democratic Society Party, known by its Turkish acronym DTP.
It was the second time in recent history that a speech was delivered in Kurdish in Turkey's parliament. In 1991, Leyla Zana spoke in her native Kurdish as she was sworn in as a deputy. She had immunity as a lawmaker, but it was later stripped and she served 10 years in prison on other charges. (NYT, Feb. 25 via Kurdish Media [2])
See our last post on Turkey and the Kurds [3].
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