A Kurdish singer entertains fans in Turkey. Photo: DIHA

ANKARA, Turkey – The new mayor of Mersin, a multi-ethnic city in Turkey that is home to some 400,000 Kurds, has imposed a ban on Kurdish music at public venues, including at weddings or celebrations at places owned or operated by the municipality.

Burhanettin Kocamaz, from the ultra-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who won the March 31 local elections, sent a written notice ordering the ban, which has been criticized by Kurdish activists. They say it is the first time that a local official has brought this much pressure against the Kurds.

“The fact that he uses his authority like that in Mersin, where at least 400,000 Kurds reside, is both an example of racism and fascism and a crime of abusing the authority granted to him by law,” Adil Zozani, an MP from the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), said in a parliamentary objection to the interior minister.

“The mayor is responsible for serving the entire city and is supposed to treat equally all different ethnic, religious and faith groups,” he noted. “Isn’t it a hate crime for a mayor to ban a people’s language and use his authority as a tool for threatening people? Isn’t it also a crime for him to abuse his power?”

Turkey has had a long history of keeping its huge Kurdish minority of some 15 million people under its heel, banning the Kurds even from speaking their own language until 1991. Since last year, the government has embarked on a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but activists complain that the pressure on Kurds continues.

Ali Tanriverdi, head of the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Mersin, told Rudaw this was the first time a local politician had acted in this way against the Kurds.

“The state is still applying pressure on the Kurds throughout Turkey, but this is the first time that a local politician in the city is doing the same thing to this extent,” Tanriverdi said. “Three days ago, while Kurdish music was being played at a wedding, the owner of the venue begged the band to stop the music,” he said.

“The mayor has even justified his decision by saying that he does not want to provoke the youths,” he added.

Halis Deger, head of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Mersin, told Rudaw that the mayor was sticking to the Turkish policy of denying Kurdish identity.

“The mayor has told the managers of those venues not to play music in any language other than Turkish, so he is still trying to deny the Kurdish identity. But peace cannot be achieved through denial of identities,” he said. “Despite the ban, we will keep on singing our songs even more loudly, everywhere,” Deger said defiantly.

For decades, Turkey has denied its Kurds basic rights. Kurdish-language education, or publishing in the language, was banned until 2000.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has made limited reforms that allow learning Kurdish at private language schools.