Police detain Kurdish man for calling Turkey's southeast 'Kurdistan'
Turkish police have detained a Kurdish man for deeming Turkey's southeast "Kurdistan." The man is accused of "making propaganda of a terrorist organization."
Duvar English
Turkish police have detained a Kurdish man for calling Turkey's southeast "Kurdistan," state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Oct. 29.
The video of the man, identified only as Cemil T., talking to right-wing Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener about the Kurdish issue was widely shared on social media this week.
"We are denied our mother tongue and our identities. The existence of Kurdistan is denied. We are against that," Cemil T., a shop owner, is seen telling Akşener during her visit to the Kurtalan district of the southeastern province of Siirt.
"We exist. The people around you, your advisers are Kurdish. The place you are at right now is Kurdistan, but unfortunately it is denied in parliament," he told the nationalist leader.
📌Siirt’e halkımız söylemiş hem de net bir şekil de lafı yuvarlamadan 📌"Dilimiz inkar ediliyor, kimliğimiz inkar ediliyor, Kürdistan inkar ediliyor. Biz buna karşıyız. Şu an sizin bulunduğunuz yer Kürdistan’dır ama ne yazık ki Meclis'te bu Kürdistan inkar ediliyor."
— Ömer ÖCALAN (@omerrocalan) October 28, 2021
📌Her bijî pic.twitter.com/JplbAF47EJ
Shortly after, Kurtalan Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into Cemil T. for "making propaganda of a terrorist organization." He was detained as part of the probe, before being released a day later.
Siirt Kurtalan'da İYİ PARTİ Genel Başkanı Meral Akşener'in sohbet ettiği esnaf "Burası Kürdistan'dır" dediği için "örgüt propagandası yaptığı iddiası ile bu sabaha karşı evinden gözlatına alındı. pic.twitter.com/ceYByaxyxI
— metinyoksu (@metinyoksu) October 29, 2021
Turkish authorities often associate defending the rights of the Kurds with making propaganda of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).