Kurdish traffic signs in Van province vandalized

Kadir Cesur / Gazete Duvar

In eastern Van province, the Kurdish phrase "Pêşî Peya (Pedestrian First)” written on a crosswalk by the Metropolitan Municipality was defaced by unidentified individuals, who painted over it with the phrase “Turkey is Turkish and will remain Turkish (Türkiye Türk’tür Türk kalacak).”

In the incident that occurred on the evening of July 25, the individual or individuals responsible for the vandalizm chose a location where there were no CCTV or security cameras.

Upon receiving the report, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party's Van Metropolitan Municipality teams arrived at the site of the crosswalk early in the morning and began working to restore the defaced Kurdish sign. 

The municipality issued a statement regarding the incident, emphasizing that the act was “provocative” and stated that legal action would be initiated.

"A heinous attack on these warning signs has been carried out by racist elements unable to digest the rich culture of our country and city. We condemn this attack first and foremost. Such an attack on Kurdish, a language used by a significant portion of the city's population, is unacceptable," the municipality stated.

Within the scope of “multilingual municipality activities,” Van Metropolitan Municipality added Kurdish warnings to the traffic warning signs on the roads in the city last week along with the Turkish ones.

The municipality have been subjected to racist attacks on social media.

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