"The Forbidden Tongue
Turkey's leader is in a tough spot after a Kurdish politician dares to speak his native language.
By Owen Matthews | NEWSWEEK
For years, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has positioned himself as a champion of the ethnic Kurds who make up one fifth of Turkey's population. He's spoken Kurdish at election rallies and on television, eased restrictions on the use of the language in public and, with more than a little encouragement from the European Union, pushed through laws that allow education and broadcasting in Kurdish. But last week Erdogan found himself on the spot when an ethnic Kurdish parliamentarian, Ahmet Türk, addressed Parliament in his native language. "Kurds have long been oppressed because they did not know any other language," he said as he switched from Turkish to Kurdish. "I promised myself that I would speak in my mother tongue at an official meeting one day.""
More:A Kurdish Politician Puts Erdogan In A Tough Spot | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com