ANKARA, Turkey – 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.
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.”
Suraya Ondur, another HDP MP, said that Turkey’s policies and its military power is not able to change how millions of Kurds in Turkey feel about their love for Kurdistan.
“You might discuss strangely and define Kurdistan as a geographic expression which you don’t like. But you can’t change the feelings, emotions and love from the Kurdish youth toward their homeland even if you deploy all the tanks, artilleries and emergency budgets,” Ondur said.
Turkey’s parliament suspended Osman Baydemir, HDP’s MP and spokesperson on Wednesday, for using the word Kurdistan in the legislature.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday 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.”
Deputy Parliament Speaker Bahcekapili asked Baydemir, “Where is Kurdistan?”
“It is here,” he replied, clapping his hand on his heart.
In #Turkey’s parliament: Kurdish lawmaker asked, “Where is #Kurdistan?” pic.twitter.com/OjXq0zIXgE
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) December 13, 2017
After a parliamentary vote on the matter, Baydemir was dismissed from the session and barred from the two additional General Assembly sessions. He will also lose two thirds of his monthly salary, as per parliamentary regulations.
HDP lawmakers walked out of the session in protest.
Baydemir became the first MP to be sanctioned under the amended regulations.
