In a 336-page indictment issued on Friday, Turkish prosecutors accuse the Religious Scholars Mutual Aid and Solidarity Association (DIAYDER), a Kurdish mullah group that delivers sermons on the Muslim holy day of Friday, of affiliation with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara.
DIAYDER is accused of following instructions from the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
The prosecutors in the indictment equate terms used in the Kurdish language to terms "used and adopted" by the PKK, Rudaw English reported. They include the Kurdish words for community, protection, peace and religion among the terms "not used by people," but by the PKK.
Turkish opposition politicians and Kurdish rights organisations have slammed the case against DIAYDER.
The Kurdish Language and Culture Network ridiculed the charges and accused the Turkish authorities of reaching a "high point" in their "ignorance and hatred" towards the Kurdish people and language.
Mehmet Emin Ekmen, deputy leader of the Turkish opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) responded to news of the indictment by tweeting a New Year’s message in Kurdish with the same terms cited as criminal in the indictment.
“Kurdish is not the language of terror,” tweeted Ekmen.
Use of the Kurdish language or certain terms has been enough to inspire scrutiny from Turkish authorities, which can result in jail time. A number of Kurdish artists, religious figures, musicians, writers and ordinary citizens of Turkey have all been targeted with investigations on spurious terrorism charges.
Critics accuse Turkey of suppressing the Kurdish identity, including the language and culture as part of a long historical process of establishing a monolithic Turkish identity that disregards Kurds. The country’s largest ethnic minority, Kurds make up over 15 percent of the country’s population.
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