‘Kurdistan' row still boiling in Turkish parliament

PanARMENIAN.Net - A new row erupted between lawmakers of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) over mentioning the word Kurdistan in the country’s parliament, a word banned since earlier this year, Rudaw reports.

The argument began when the MPs delivered messages while discussing Turkey's 2018 budget.

“Speaking about Kurdistan and referring to its geography on the map means dividing of Turkish territory,” Mustefa Elitas said in a parliamentary session on Saturday.

“No one will allow that. Kurds and Turks live together in this country. We are all Turkish. No one has the right to defend these dirty terrorists. This is unacceptable,” Elitas charged.

Alijan Onlu, from the Kurdish city of Tunceli, also known as Dersim, responded that using the term Kurdistan is not unprecedented as he made reference to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had used the word in the past.

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the words ‘Kurdistan, Dersim and the mass murder in Dersim’ for his own interests, but we get pressured if we use them,” the HDP MP said.

Deputy Parliament Speaker, Ayse Nur Bahcekapili from the AKP, defended Erdogan’s use of the word in a speech he delivered in November 2013, saying that the Turkish president was referring to the country’s constitution in 1920s.

In July, the parliament adopted new guidelines that banned use of the terms “Kurdistan,” “Kurdish regions,” and “Armenian Genocide.”

Turkey’s parliament suspended Osman Baydemir, HDP’s MP and spokesperson last week, for using the word Kurdistan in the legislature.

Addressing the parliament during budget discussions, Baydemir, who represents Sanliurfa in southeast Turkey, referred to his electoral area as Kurdistan and described himself as “a child of the Kurdish people.”