New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 5 2007

Diyarbakir district goes bilingual

The New Anatolian / Ankara
05 January 2007

A municipal council decision to offer municipal services in both
Turkish and Kurdish has been approved by the Sur district
Municipality of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, reports said
yesterday.

The decision is likely to fuel tension in the region, as it is
clearly in violation of the Constitution, according to several
political commentators.

Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbas last year faced prosecution for defending
multilingual municipal services at an international conference in
Vienna. Charges against him were dropped on the grounds of freedom of
expression, but the Interior Ministry severely criticized the move by
Demirbas.

It is said that the Sur Municipality as well as the Diyarbakir
Greater Municipality started multilingual services last year without
an official decision to ease transactions by Kurdish people in the
city.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the Sur Municipality,
Demirbas touted the news while arguing that Turkey, in practice, is
not monolingual but multilingual.

He also underlined that the decision was taken by a majority vote.
"We don’t have only one identity but multiple identities, we have to
live considering this fact," he explained. "We’ll give services
taking all studies and scientific data into account as we aim to
contribute to democracy in the region and the country."

Demirbas also said that they took the decision based on the belief
that municipalities and local administrations are also "schools for
further democracy."

Kurdish politicians in the region, spearheaded by Diyarbakir Mayor
Osman Baydemir, fiercely advocate further rights for local
administrations, which sporadically find support from the government.
The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party had a long-term project
to invest further rights to local authorities, reducing the power and
authority of the central administration, but it has failed to
implement necessary phases of this project during its four years in
office.

"I hope this decision will be an example for Parliament," Demirbas
said. "I believe that Parliament will regard the multilingual and
multicultural structure of Turkey and take a decision that will
contribute to peace and democracy in the country. We think that
democracy will improve on a local basis."

The mayor added that through their decision, which is a first in
Turkey, municipal services will reach the public easier. "Both
Turkish and Kurdish have been used in the municipality before. In
order to give a better service we’ll give Kurdish, Turkish, English,
Armenian and Assyrian courses to personnel," Demirbas said.

Sociologist Aslan Ozdemir stated that they conducted a survey upon
the request of the Sur Municipality. According to the survey results,
24 percent of the residents speak Turkish, while 72 percent speak
Kurdish. "Therefore, the municipal services should be given in
various languages apart from Turkish," Ozdemir said.