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Turkey
From left: Besima Toma, her daughter and Esra Erol during ATV program, aired on December 12, 2022. Photo: screengrab/ATV
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish broadcaster on Monday muted the microphone of a woman for speaking in Kurdish on-air, with the host compelling her to speak in Turkish. The censorship has been deemed “racist” on social media.
The parents of the 21-year-old Gulay Toma reported their daughter missing on November 25. They were informed by ATV’s You are not alone, there is Esra Erol program, which discusses family issues, on Friday that Gulay had been found. The daughter claims that she was married off at the age of 14 by her parents and that she abandoned her husband and children because she was not getting along with her husband. She has also blamed her parents, who are trying to reconcile the couple, for taking her husband’s side.
The pro-government broadcaster hosted the parents and their daughter on Monday, but when Gulay’s mother, Besima, started speaking in Kurdish with her daughter on-air her microphone was muted until she agreed to speak in Turkish although her daughter explained that her mother could not speak Turkish well.
The censorship of Kurdish language by the broadcaster was condemned by people on social media, with some users deeming it “racist.”
“Those who persistently deny the existence of Kurdish issue [in Turkey] should watch [the program] closely,” said Twitter user Salih Gergerlioglu in a tweet.
This is not the first time ATV censors Kurdish language. It came under fire three years ago after the host of one of its programs cut off a caller for speaking in Kurdish language.
Another broadcaster, Show TV, stopped a woman from speaking in Kurdish on-air last year.
Although Kurds make up more than a quarter of Turkey’s population, Kurdish is banned in official settings. Turkish is the only official language of the country.
Last week, Kurdish parliamentarian Imam Tascier was prevented from speaking in Kurdish during a budget discussion at the Turkish parliament.
Reacting to ATV's latest censorship, Tascier said in a tweet late Tuesday that people like him and Besima Toma will continue to be prevented from speaking in their mother-tongue language as long as the Kurdish language is not constitutionally recognized in Turkey.
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