Diyarbakır Municipality introduces multilingual signboards despite AKP’s opposition
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party-led Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of introduction of multilingual signboards to the city, despite the opposition of ruling AKP members.
Duvar English
The Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Council has passed a motion to install multilingual location and directional signs at historical and tourist sites, as well as along roads leading to villages.
This decision was approved by a majority vote from members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, despite opposition from members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The Municipality Council received a motion on multilingual signboards written by council members representing the Çınar district, according to the online news outlet CEGA Medya.
The motion stated that “Çınar district has also had its share of name changes, the main purpose of which is erasure of collective memory and social engineering.”
The Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality was requested to “pay attention to the preservation of historical values, taking into account the cultural harmony and sensitivity of the city where different beliefs and languages live together.”
The municipal council voted in favor of constructing and installing multilingual signboards despite the rejection of the AKP members.
While Diyarbakır is densely populated by the country's Kurdish community, it is also home to other ethnic groups such as Arabs and Assyrians.