Photo via DIHA.
MAINZ, Germany – Many Kurds in Europe, dissatisfied with their Arab or Turkish names, think of changing them for Kurdish ones. But varying laws mean that taking on a new name can be easy in one country and complex in another.
“I have the same name as the man who is responsible for the situation in Northern Kurdistan” in Turkey, said Mustafa Gulen, referring to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who denied the Kurds their own state after World War One.
“My parents were forced to give me a Turkish name and I am as unhappy as one can be with a name. I want to change it to a Kurdish name,” said Mustafa, who lives in Belgium.
“I like the name Aras,” he said, explaining that is what his friends have been calling him for years.
He said he has a cousin in Norway who managed to change his Turkish name “Ceng” to the Kurdish name “Shwan.” The alteration was free and worked out without any bigger difficulties.
In Germany, where the Kurdish Diaspora of 800,000 people is the largest in Europe, a solid reason is required for a name change. Depending on the bureaucratic paperwork, the cost can range from a measly 2.50 euros to a daunting 1,022 euros.
By law, a solid reason can be an offensive or a ridiculous name, difficulties in pronunciation or spelling or the change of a child’s last after the parents have been divorced.
“The legal basis for a change of name lies in article two of the German constitution the ‘general right of personality,’” explained Kahraman Evsen, chairman of the German-Kurdish Lawyers Association (DKJ).
“I think every Kurd should have the right to change their name, especially because of the situation and laws in the occupied regions of Kurdistan,” he told Rudaw. “Take, for example, the Turkish name-law of 1934, which says that every citizen of the Turkish state has to have a Turkish name. That prohibited all non-Turkish names, including the Kurdish ones. However, the procedure in Germany remains at the discretion of the responsible administration.”
Dilek Aktepe, who lives in Germany and has roots in Erzurum in Turkey’s Kurdish east, said he seriously wants to change his name.
“It is a matter of identity: many people think I am of Turkish origin because of my name, but I want to be recognized as a Kurd,” he explained. “Even our last name had to be Turkish in occupied northern Kurdistan. A Kurdish name has a deep emotional meaning for me. I will change my name in the near future.”
Firat Akbulut, whose mother comes from Iranian Kurdistan and father from northern Kurdistan, recalled that his Kurdish name used to get him into trouble when he lived as a child in Turkey.
“When I was a kid the Turkish military often invaded our village and came into our house. Once they asked for my name, and when I said ‘Firat’ they knew I am Kurdish,” he remembered.
“Then they interrogated me, I was about four or five, but they wanted me to say something wrong. ‘What musicians do your parents listen to? Who is the leader of this country? What language do you speak?’ these were their questions,” recalling times when even speaking Kurdish was banned in Turkey.
Yasser Tamimi, who has roots in the Kurdistan Region and now lives in the Netherlands, is another Kurd who hates his name.
“I was born in Baghdad in the 1980s. An Iraqi officer with Palestinian roots saw my parents with their newborn at the hospital and told them to name me Yasser,” he explained.
“’Great men are named Yasser or Saddam’ he told them, referring to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“How could they dare to say ‘no’ to an Iraqi officer during Saddam’s times Actually, my parents wanted to name me Kawa, like the ancient Kurdish hero. I will definitely change to a Kurdish name,” he said.
As a consequence of occupation and brutal dictatorships, millions of Kurds had to adopt Arabic or Turkish names in the past, something that happens even today.
In Turkey, bureaucratic barriers to Kurdish names still exist. Mazlum and Songul Erol, a Kurdish couple, were denied the right to name their daughter “Kurdistan.” A court ruled in favor of the parents in 2013, but the birth registration office denied the parents that right.
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, however, Kurdish names have been on the rise since the1960s. Since the 1991 Kurdish uprising against Saddam’s brutal rule, the majority of Kurdish newborns receive Kurdish names.