Press TV - Turkey to translate Qur'an into Kurdish
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:16:08 GMT
Deputy Head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez To meet EU standards and uphold the cultural rights of its Kurdish population, Turkey decides to translate the Qur'an into Kurdish. “We didn't want to exclude Kurdish as we prepare translations of the Qur'an into other languages. Kurdish is widely spoken in Turkey,” deputy head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez told Anatolia news. “We printed translations of the Qur'an in the Azeri and Tatar languages, and research is under way to print translations in the Georgian and Belarusian languages,” he added. According to Gormez, a committee of experts is comparing different Kurdish translations of the Qur'an to find the best possible translation that will be easily understood by Kurdish readers. While some 12-14 million Kurds live in Turkey, they still do not have the right to use their language during political speeches or in official correspondence. The public use of the Kurdish language was banned until 1991 after the 1980 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) military coup. Turkey has listed the PKK as one of the country's active terrorist organizations. As part of its efforts to obtain EU membership, Ankara has introduced a cultural and political reform plan concerning Kurds. In line with the reform plan the state-run Kurdish television station, TRT 6, was launched in January 2009. TE/HGH
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Press TV - Turkey to translate Qur'an into Kurdish
Press TV - Turkey to translate Qur'an into Kurdish: "To meet EU standards and uphold the cultural rights of its Kurdish population, Turkey decides to translate the Qur'an into Kurdish.
“We didn't want to exclude Kurdish as we prepare translations of the Qur'an into other languages. Kurdish is widely spoken in Turkey,” deputy head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez told Anatolia news.
“We printed translations of the Qur'an in the Azeri and Tatar languages, and research is under way to print translations in the Georgian and Belarusian languages,” he added.
According to Gormez, a committee of experts is comparing different Kurdish translations of the Qur'an to find the best possible translation that will be easily understood by Kurdish readers.
While some 12-14 million Kurds live in Turkey, they still do not have the right to use their language during political speeches or in official correspondence.
The public use of the Kurdish language was banned until 1991 after the 1980 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) military coup. Turkey has listed the PKK as one of the country's active terrorist organizations.
As part of its efforts to obtain EU membership, Ankara has introduced a cultural and political reform plan concerning Kurds. In line with the reform plan the state-run Kurdish television station, TRT 6, was launched in January 2008."
“We didn't want to exclude Kurdish as we prepare translations of the Qur'an into other languages. Kurdish is widely spoken in Turkey,” deputy head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez told Anatolia news.
“We printed translations of the Qur'an in the Azeri and Tatar languages, and research is under way to print translations in the Georgian and Belarusian languages,” he added.
According to Gormez, a committee of experts is comparing different Kurdish translations of the Qur'an to find the best possible translation that will be easily understood by Kurdish readers.
While some 12-14 million Kurds live in Turkey, they still do not have the right to use their language during political speeches or in official correspondence.
The public use of the Kurdish language was banned until 1991 after the 1980 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) military coup. Turkey has listed the PKK as one of the country's active terrorist organizations.
As part of its efforts to obtain EU membership, Ankara has introduced a cultural and political reform plan concerning Kurds. In line with the reform plan the state-run Kurdish television station, TRT 6, was launched in January 2008."
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Kurdish TRT (Ses) Airs Mawlid Program in Kurdish
Journal of Turkish Weekly - 9.3.2009TRT SeS (6), Turkey's 24-hour Kurdish-language television station, aired a religious program in connection with the Mawlid al-Nabi (Mevlid Kandili in Turkish) in the once-banned Kurdish language last night.Many in the Muslim world observed Mawlid al-Nabi yesterday, a celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. The date for the holiday is fixed at the 12th day of the Muslim calendar month of Rabi al-Awwal. The TRT Ses Mawlid program was shot at Ulucami -- Anatolia's first mosque -- in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır. The program included prayers, Quran recitation and sermons by muftis.Alettin Bozkurt, a mufti who addressed Turkey's Kurdish population with a sermon in a Kurdish dialect, dwelled on the importance of unity and brotherhood. Bozkurt said Islam made no place for racism and conflict. The program was met with enthusiasm by many in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated eastern and southeastern regions.People expressed satisfaction at the opportunity to watch a religious program in Kurdish, the public use of which was prohibited following a 1980 military coup. The ban remained in place until 1991.In the meantime, mosques across Turkey were filled with Muslims last night who wished to mark the occasion with prayers.Men, women and children flocked to mosques across the country to offer prayers in congregation, and listened attentively to sermons delivered by imams. All of the sermons emphasized the importance of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood between people.
The Prophet Muhammad was born around A.D. 570 and died in 632. Mawlid al-Nabi is not a traditional Islamic observance, first observed around the 13th century and preceded by a month of celebration. It is nevertheless celebrated by many throughout the Muslim world, and ubiquitously so in Turkey.The celebration is motivated by a sense of love and respect for the Prophet. The day is usually marked with a sermon, a reminder of the Prophet's life and mission, gift-giving and a feast. The festival spread throughout the Muslim world and is celebrated in many countries today, though orthodox groups regard the celebration of the Prophet's birthday as a religiously innovative practice and therefore forbidden.Directorate of Religious Affairs head Ali Bardakoglu issued a message in connection with the observance yesterday, in which he emphasized that the Prophet Muhammad helped the needy and the poor throughout his life."Our beloved prophet always lent a helping hand to orphans and the needy. He never hurt anyone, and did not return evil with evil, though he was faced with very difficult situations. He not only advised us to love people and show affection toward them, but practiced his advice during his lifetime. ... Loving the prophet and taking him as an example for our lives means to shape our lives in accordance with his advice and recommendations," Bardakoglu said.
The Prophet Muhammad was born around A.D. 570 and died in 632. Mawlid al-Nabi is not a traditional Islamic observance, first observed around the 13th century and preceded by a month of celebration. It is nevertheless celebrated by many throughout the Muslim world, and ubiquitously so in Turkey.The celebration is motivated by a sense of love and respect for the Prophet. The day is usually marked with a sermon, a reminder of the Prophet's life and mission, gift-giving and a feast. The festival spread throughout the Muslim world and is celebrated in many countries today, though orthodox groups regard the celebration of the Prophet's birthday as a religiously innovative practice and therefore forbidden.Directorate of Religious Affairs head Ali Bardakoglu issued a message in connection with the observance yesterday, in which he emphasized that the Prophet Muhammad helped the needy and the poor throughout his life."Our beloved prophet always lent a helping hand to orphans and the needy. He never hurt anyone, and did not return evil with evil, though he was faced with very difficult situations. He not only advised us to love people and show affection toward them, but practiced his advice during his lifetime. ... Loving the prophet and taking him as an example for our lives means to shape our lives in accordance with his advice and recommendations," Bardakoglu said.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Kurdish speech triggers Turkey row
Al Jazeera English - Europe - Kurdish speech triggers Turkey row
Kurdish speech triggers Turkey row
Ahmet Turk said Kurds had 'been oppressed because they did not know any other language' [AFP]
A Turkish Kurd politician has triggered a controversy after he delivered a speech in Kurdish in parliament, breaking a law that bars the language from official settings.
Ahmet Turk, who heads the Democratic Society Party, Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish party, began speaking on Tuesday in Turkish but then switched to Kurdish, causing state-run television to cut its live broadcast of the speech.
Kurdish is banned in schools and parliament, on grounds that it would cause ethnic divisions.
Turk was speaking to his party's parliamentary group about Unesco's international day of native languages.
"In order to show that there is nothing to fear in using other languages and to emphasise brotherhood of languages during the International Day of Mother Tongues, let me continue my speech in Kurdish," he said, just before going off air.
"Kurds have long been oppressed because they did not know any other language,'' he said. "I promised myself that I would speak in my mother tongue at an official meeting one day."
'Provocation'
Turk received a standing ovation from about 20 members of his party, but other groups have criticised his speech, saying it was a political manoeuvre ahead of the March 29 municipal elections.
Nihat Ergun, deputy chairman of the ruling AK Party's parliament group, said the speech was a "provocation".
Koksal Toptan, head of the national assembly, found fault with Turk for speaking in Kurdish, but said that he would not be fined for defying the law.
"The official language is Turkish,'' he said. "This meeting should have been conducted in Turkish."
Under the country's law, only Turkish can be spoken in political addresses.
However Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, spoke a few words of Kurdish at a campaign rally on Saturday.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
TRT 6 is good for Kurds
Karahan: TRT 6 is good for Kurds
KurdishMedia.com - By Vladimir van Wilgenburg26/01/2009 00:00:00
Nefel.com columnist Enwer Karahan (45) from Sweden thinks TRT is beneficial for Kurds. He also believes that less artists and intellectuals were negative about the TV-station, if the PKK wasn’t against it. I translated some of his arguments from the Dutch version of Rudaw.
Karahan argues that the TV-station is not only created by the AKP, but also has the support of the military and the state. “Otherwise the AKP couldn’t take this big step.”
A lot of Kurdish intellectuals and writers are negative about the survival of the Kurdish dialect Kurmandji, because it’s not a ‘market language’. It doesn’t benefit you if you learn it from an economical perspective. In the region of the Regional Government of Kurdistan Sorani is the official language. “That’s why TRT-6 is a good opportunity for Kurdish to become more worthy and get more status. (On this level, the Turkish state helps Kurmanci much more then the government of the Kurdistan-region in Iraq (KRG)”.
Karahan hopes that more commercial channels will start using Kurdish and that this is the start of Kurdish commercials and the possibility of earning money with knowing Kurdish and educating more Kurds in the Kurmanci dialect. “In short, the status of the language will also grow among Turks.”
According to Karahan the TRT 6 channel will convince rich Kurds to invest in Kurdish culture and this will also increase Kurdish nationalism. “This will have the result that Kurmanci will automatically become the second official language in Turkey.”
Karahan argues that Kurds don’t have the luxury to reject this TV-station and should incite the Turkish state to take more of this kind of steps. In contrary to the ideas of Karahan, the DTP and the PKK has branded the TV-channel as an assimilation project, to assimilate Kurds more. One only wonders how one can assimilate an ethnicity, with setting up a TV-station in their own language.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a freelance journalist and maintains a blog at: http://vvanwilgenburg.blogspot.com/
KurdishMedia.com - By Vladimir van Wilgenburg26/01/2009 00:00:00
KurdishMedia.com - By Vladimir van Wilgenburg26/01/2009 00:00:00
Nefel.com columnist Enwer Karahan (45) from Sweden thinks TRT is beneficial for Kurds. He also believes that less artists and intellectuals were negative about the TV-station, if the PKK wasn’t against it. I translated some of his arguments from the Dutch version of Rudaw.
Karahan argues that the TV-station is not only created by the AKP, but also has the support of the military and the state. “Otherwise the AKP couldn’t take this big step.”
A lot of Kurdish intellectuals and writers are negative about the survival of the Kurdish dialect Kurmandji, because it’s not a ‘market language’. It doesn’t benefit you if you learn it from an economical perspective. In the region of the Regional Government of Kurdistan Sorani is the official language. “That’s why TRT-6 is a good opportunity for Kurdish to become more worthy and get more status. (On this level, the Turkish state helps Kurmanci much more then the government of the Kurdistan-region in Iraq (KRG)”.
Karahan hopes that more commercial channels will start using Kurdish and that this is the start of Kurdish commercials and the possibility of earning money with knowing Kurdish and educating more Kurds in the Kurmanci dialect. “In short, the status of the language will also grow among Turks.”
According to Karahan the TRT 6 channel will convince rich Kurds to invest in Kurdish culture and this will also increase Kurdish nationalism. “This will have the result that Kurmanci will automatically become the second official language in Turkey.”
Karahan argues that Kurds don’t have the luxury to reject this TV-station and should incite the Turkish state to take more of this kind of steps. In contrary to the ideas of Karahan, the DTP and the PKK has branded the TV-channel as an assimilation project, to assimilate Kurds more. One only wonders how one can assimilate an ethnicity, with setting up a TV-station in their own language.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a freelance journalist and maintains a blog at: http://vvanwilgenburg.blogspot.com/
KurdishMedia.com - By Vladimir van Wilgenburg26/01/2009 00:00:00
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