On the night of 22 September, unknown persons vandalised Kurdish and Turkish language road markings, which had been painted by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party municipal council of Karakoçan (Dep) in
Elazığ (Xarpêt), eastern Turkey, to improve the safety of pedestrians and traffic.
The Kurdish language parts of the roadmarkings, which included the Kurdish phrases Pêşî Peya (Priority to Pedestrians) and Hêdî (Slow), were blacked out with paint. The Turkish aspect of the roadmarkings was left untouched by the vandals. The roadmarkings had been introduced in both languages after the local elections in March.
This act is part of a wider pattern of removing the Kurdish language from public spaces, apparently following written instructions from Turkey’s Interior Ministry to the governors in Kurdish-majaority regions on 26 July, and coincides with the increasing repression of Kurdish culture by the ruling coalition. Similar incidents have been reported in other cities such as Van (Wan), Diyarbakır (Amed), Mardin (Mêrdîn) and Batman (Êlih), where Kurdish traffic signs have been defaced in recent weeks.
Earlier this year, Kurdish traffic warnings in Van and Diyarbakır were blacked out in separate incidents on 26 and 29 July. In Van, a 16-year-old student defaced the signs by spraying the slogan ‘Turkey is Turkish and will remain Turkish’ after receiving encouragement and reassurances from local police officers. In Diyarbakır, a group of unidentified people, also reportedly supported by the police, removed Kurdish traffic signs outside the city’s municipal buildings. These events have raised concerns about rising racist sentiments and their impact on Kurdish communities.
Van City Council condemned the defacement of the signs as a ‘racist attack’ and quickly restored them, highlighting the growing tension and division over the use of the Kurdish language in public spaces.
