27-11-2009
Diyarbakir - Although the returning of original names of villages and towns is still an issue of discussion in Turkey, the municipality of Amed (Diyarbakir) has already taken measures in this respect. The council made and installed multilingual traffic signs with the original names of Kurdish towns on it.
Minister Atalay of Internal Affairs had denied the rumour that Turkey was planning to give the names back to many villages, which after the founding of the Republic were replaced by Turkish names. The Democratic Society Party (DTP), who collected 70 percent of the votes in Amed during local elections on March 29 this year and also has 21 seats in national parliament presents the returning of original names of villages as on of their minimal demands.
Despite the fact that villagers showed the traffic signs proudly to the press, readers of Kurdish-European news portals like Netkurd were more critical. "Which of the names is Kurdish? Körtepe en Kortepe are both Turkish, only the ö is left out. Why not Gir [Kurdish translation of Tepe] for Tepe?" What catches the eye however is that forbidden 'Kurdish letters' like 'Q', 'X', 'Î' are used on the signs. (Photo: Avesta)
© Rudaw / E-Weje
Diyarbakir - Although the returning of original names of villages and towns is still an issue of discussion in Turkey, the municipality of Amed (Diyarbakir) has already taken measures in this respect. The council made and installed multilingual traffic signs with the original names of Kurdish towns on it.
Minister Atalay of Internal Affairs had denied the rumour that Turkey was planning to give the names back to many villages, which after the founding of the Republic were replaced by Turkish names. The Democratic Society Party (DTP), who collected 70 percent of the votes in Amed during local elections on March 29 this year and also has 21 seats in national parliament presents the returning of original names of villages as on of their minimal demands.
Despite the fact that villagers showed the traffic signs proudly to the press, readers of Kurdish-European news portals like Netkurd were more critical. "Which of the names is Kurdish? Körtepe en Kortepe are both Turkish, only the ö is left out. Why not Gir [Kurdish translation of Tepe] for Tepe?" What catches the eye however is that forbidden 'Kurdish letters' like 'Q', 'X', 'Î' are used on the signs. (Photo: Avesta)
© Rudaw / E-Weje
