TURKEY’S SUR MUNICIPALITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES IN KURDISH, LOCAL LANGUAGES

Sabah, Turkey
Jan 5 2007

[Report by Ugur Becerikli from Ankara: "The First Step of the Article
in Question"]

The mayor of Sur, a district of Diyarbakir, had been put on trial
and acquitted for writing about "multilingual" municipal services
in his article. The mayor has now made this official. The first
implementation: Services in the Kurdish language.

The Sur Municipality has undersigned a controversial decision.

According to the decision, in addition to Turkish, municipal services
will be provided in Kurdish primarily and in other local languages.

The announcements will be issued in these languages and the personnel
will speak these languages.

An Investigation Launched by the Ministry

The Interior Minister has launched an investigation into the
decision that has been reached on the basis of the article entitled
"Multi-Lingual Municipal Services" that had been submitted by DTP
[Democratic Society Party] Mayor Abdullah Demirbas to the European
Social Forum.

He Also Proposed It for the Official Documents

In his article Demirbas had suggested that the titles and the offices
in the municipalities as well as the streets and the avenues should
be defined in a multilingual manner and that the official documents
should be written in different languages. Demirbas had been put on
trial on grounds of his article.

"The TBMM Should Also Reach Such a Decision"

DTP Mayor Abdullah Demirbas said: "Municipalities of tourist places
are using languages such as English and German when providing many
services. They even use these languages on the signs. What we are
trying to do is similar to this. Why should the TBMM [Turkish Grand
National Assembly] not reach such a decision as well?"

The Sur Municipal Assembly Has Approved "Multilingual" Services

The Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir has undersigned an unprecedented
decision in Turkey. Accordingly, the municipality will select its
personnel from among those who speak languages such as Kurdish, Zaza,
and Armenian.

The Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir has undersigned an interesting
decision. The Municipal Assembly is making "multilingual municipal
services" official. Yesterday the Sur Municipal Assembly approved,
with 17 votes in favour and seven against, that in addition to
Turkish, municipal services will be provided in local languages
such as Kurdish, Zaza, and Arabic. Accordingly, when employing
its personnel the municipality will prefer those who speak these
languages. The municipality will also hire translators who speak
these local languages and dialects. The municipal announcements will
be issued in these languages and the internet site will be arranged
according to these languages. The municipality will be able to
publish books in these languages. The official correspondence will
be in the Turkish language and these languages will not be used in
the Sur Municipality’s letterheads.

The English Example

Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbas who is a DTP member has been put on trial
for "conducting the propaganda of the terrorist organization," but he
had been acquitted by the Fourth Penal Court. Following his acquittal
he began to put to practice the proposals that he had posited in his
article. A statement issued by the municipality noted that in 2006
a public opinion poll was conducted on the languages spoken in the
Sur District, adding that 24 per cent of the people speak Turkish,
72 per cent speak Kurdish, 1 per cent speak Arabic, and 3 per cent
speak Assyrian-Armenian. Speaking to Sabah, Sur Mayor Abdullah
Demirbas explained that multilingual services are given in tourist
regions primarily and in many other regions. Stating that in addition
to Turkish, municipal services are provided in English and German in
tourist regions and that Latin names are used for historical places,
Demirbas said: "In order to provide services you are obliged to speak
the same language with the citizen that will receive the service. If
you do not understand each other you cannot serve the citizen."

Stressing that in the past they had published brochures in Kurdish,
Armenian, Assyrian, and English and that they had also published
game books and children magazines in Turkish and Kurdish, Demirbas
said the following: "We are not saying that we will not hire those
who do not speak the local languages. We present this as a proposed
qualification. When providing municipal services it is either
necessary to speak the people’s language or to have someone who
translates into these languages. Therefore we will either train our
existing personnel or when hiring new personnel, we will require these
languages. We hope that this will constitute a beautiful example to
the unity within the differences in Turkey. It is also necessary to
strengthen the multilingual system for a democracy that is in line
with the EU’s standards. This is one of the EU’s basic norms. The
truth is that many institutions provide multilingual services in
Turkey. The Turkish Airlines provides services in English to its
customers. [Passage omitted]

Jurists Say: "It Is Impossible To Do This With Official Documents"

Speaking to Sabah about the situation, the jurists stressed that in
official documents it is possible to use only the official language.

Prof Dr Burhan Kuzu, constitutional professor, chairman of the
TBMM Constitutional Committee, and AKP [Justice and Development
Party] deputy said: "The Constitution is very clear about this
issue. The correspondence in official institutions should be in
Turkish." Prof Dr Ali Ulku Arzak, lecturer at the Law School of the
Maltepe University, on the other hand, stated that the matter should
be examined by jurists. Prof Dr Bakir Caglar, Turkey’s former ECHR
[European Court of Human Rights] lawyer, in turn, said: "This is an
administrative decision. It is possible to cancel it in administrative
courts. Following the cancellation of the decision the municipality,
as a body corporate, may try all the legal routes in Turkey and
if it is not able to achieve any results, it may apply to the
ECHR. Furthermore certain people living within the borders of the
municipality in question may apply to the ECHR regarding this issue.

Nonetheless the ECHR will not take this seriously." [Passage omitted]

"It Will Strengthen Turkey"

Prof Dr Baskin Oran, lecturer at the Political Sciences Faculty,
has extended support to the implementation. Oran said: "This will
strengthen Turkey because a forced citizen – a citizen whose
sub-identity is being denied – is the citizen of this country
unwillingly. A citizen whose sub-identity is respected will be a
willing citizen. I find the step taken by the municipality in this
regard appropriate. This is an appropriate move for strengthening
Turkey. According to the Lausanne Agreement, the people can give
testimonies in the courts of the Turkish Republic in the Kurdish
language anyway. Why should they not receive municipal services in
this language? If there is no other way and if he does not speak
any other language, what should he do? I am speaking as a Turk from
Izmir. In my opinion this is appropriate."