Kurdish TV

After years of opposition and months of heated debate, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) began broadcasting in Kurdish today on TRT 6.
 

This is a revolutionary step and shows that Turkish society as a whole is maturing on key issues. But there is more to be done to find a lasting solution to Turkey’s Kurdish problem. The decision by Parliament to start an official TV channel to broadcast in Kurdish was one of the most important events in 2008. While the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has oscillated between different positions on the Kurdish issue over the last six years, Kurdish TV is a step in the right direction. There are three main reasons for this.

First of all, a good part of Turkey’s Kurdish problem centers on the language issue. Putting aside such extreme and largely dysfunctional demands as giving amnesty to jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan or carving out a federal region for the Kurds inside Turkey, the majority of Turkey’s Kurds see the free use of their language as the most important right that should be granted. As a matter of fact, the major difference between Kurds and Turks boils down to the language issue. No one can claim that there is a big cultural or perceptual gap between what we identify as Turkish and Kurdish cultures. From wedding ceremonies and funerals to traditional songs and religious traditions, Turks and Kurds share more than they differ.

Furthermore, the oppression of the Kurdish language is the most visible and common violation of Kurdish rights in Turkey. All other violations, including detentions, underdevelopment and so on, are problems endemic to the traditional attitudes of the Turkish security establishment. In other words, the state does not make a distinction between a Kurd and a Turk or an Arab when it comes to implementing its own security agenda and prioritizing its threat perceptions.

Secondly, Kurdish broadcasting has a chance to depoliticize the Kurdish language. Given the current tension and positions on the Kurdish issue, speaking Kurdish alone is a sign of defiance and opposition to the official ideology. This needs to change. Otherwise, the Kurdish language will never have a natural life of its own. It will always be at the mercy of an ideological struggle and identity politics. Instead, the Kurdish language and its public use should be normalized. People should be able to speak Kurdish just as they speak Turkish, French or English, with no ideological and heavily cultural strings attached.

The third reason is that Kurdish broadcasting is in tune with Turkey’s new foreign policy activism. TRT 6 will broadcast not only in Kurdish but also in English, Arabic and Farsi. Such a multilingual approach is urgently needed to complement Turkey’s efforts in the region. If Turkey is to cultivate effective soft power and build trust and confidence among the peoples in the region, it has to invest more in the languages of the region.

But the investments have to go beyond TV languages. Turkey ought to spend more time, energy and money to strengthen and deepen its good relations with the countries of the region. Beginning with northern Iraq and continuing with Syria and the Caucasus, Turkey has to be visible and more effective in its immediate neighborhood. This means opening Turkey’s doors up to its region and making its presence felt in its neighborhood.

Kurdish TV is a revolutionary step, and both the AK Party government and TRT Director İbrahim Şahin should be congratulated for taking this bold and absolutely essential step. With Kurdish broadcasting, an old taboo in Turkey has been broken. And the best thing is that Turkey has not lost its national unity and territorial integrity nor have Kurds rejected the channel as a political plot. The vast majority of the Turkish people have welcomed the initiative, and this is a most encouraging sign for meaningful progress on Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

Let’s hope that 2009 will be the year more substantia