Deputy urges gov't to look into Turkey's missing Kurdish works

A deputy of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) urged Ankara to form a parliamentary committee to search for Kurdish written works missing from Turkish libraries. Kurdish works currently in inventory are also registered under other languages, deputy Murat Sarısaç added.

Wednesday January 06 2021 11:14 am

Turkey's presidential library in Ankara is seen in this file photo.

Müzeyyen Yüce / DUVAR

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Murat Sarısaç presented a series of parliamentary questions urging the foundation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the Kurdish literary works that have gone missing from libraries in the country since the foundation of the Turkish Republic.

There are merely 25 works in Kurdish in the inventory of Turkey's Written Works Directorate, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said in response to Sarısaç's inquiry.

“We have Kurdish-speaking staff. All of our works are catalogued,” the minister added, evading a question on the number of employees allocated to Kurdish works.

It's a known fact that the number of Kurdish works in inventory is in fact much higher, Sarısaç said, adding that clerical errors are the reason why the official number is so low.

"The inventory lists different languages for the category 'language' of Kurdish works. Either knowingly or not, these are grave clerical errors. There are Kurdish works, but no Kurdish language."

The errors in inventory reflect the Turkish state's general attitude towards Kurdish as a language, the deputy added.

"We urge Minister Ersoy to form a committee for Kurdish works, to right the wrongs that were made."