12-02-2010
By Firat Kalahki
Rudaw - Selahattin Demirtaş, the head of the newly established pro-Kurdish BDP party called on artists and parents to use the Kurdish language.
Demirtas asked Kurdish parents to take more care of Kurdish language and teach their children Kurdish culture. “We call our people to preserve their language. We ask parents to teach their children Kurdish language and to speak in Kurdish among at home, name their babies with a Kurdish name and to read Kurdish newspapers and publications,” Demirtas said in the party conference on 1 February.
“Kurdish language should be taught even in the streets if it’s necessary. Regional managers should be aware of language issues. Artists must present their arts in their own language. I am calling Yilmaz Erdogan and Mahsun Kirmizigul to produce their works in their own language,” stated Demirtas during his speech in the conference.
The actor Yilmaz Erdogan said he wouldn’t follow the ‘populist call’ of the BDP-leader. But he did accept an invitation of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who invited him and other artists to discuss the ‘democratic initiative’ of the ruling AKP-government in Turkey. Yilmaz Erdogan was later criticized by people from the Kurdish province of Hakkari for supporting ‘assimilation’ policies.
© Rudaw
