Turkey requests Google to remove ‘Kurdistan map’: minister

Greater Kurdistan on Google maps. Photo: Screenshot/google maps

ANKARA,— Turkey has requested Google to remove a map of greater “Kurdistan,” that includes its own territory, a Turkish minister said on Monday.

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Cahit Turan said Turkish authorities were aware of the map on Google Earth, encompassing Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian territories as a “geo-cultural region”, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

“Information and Communication Technologies Authority [BTK] officials talked to the platform’s [Google] representatives for the urgent removal of the map as part of their liabilities over national and international statutes,” the minister said in a response to parliamentary question from Iyi Party.

“We are following the developments and maintaining our contacts,” he added.

The map in question appears to be one created by a user on Google’s My Maps service, not the company itself.

In the meantime, the Kurds remain the world’s largest stateless ethnic group. Estimated to over 40 million Kurds live in “Greater Kurdistan” which covers an area as big as France.

More than 22.5 million Kurds live in southeastern Turkey (northern Kurdistan), estimated to over 12 million Kurds live in northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), nearly 3 million Kurds live in northern Syria (Western Kurdistan) and 4 million Kurds live in northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan).

In 1925, the country of the Kurds, known since the 12th century as “Kurdistan”, was forcibly divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. And for the first time in its long history, it was deprived of its cultural autonomy.

Ever since that date, Kurds in Turkey have been denied their basic rights and freedoms at the hands as the state attempts to assimilate them.

Tehran and Ankara fear the spread of separatism to their own Kurdish populations. There is also a significant Kurdish population in Syria.

The use of the term “Kurdistan” is vigorously rejected due to its alleged political implications by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize the existence of a “Turkish Kurdistan” Southeast Turkey. The word ‘KURDISTAN’ is strongly prohibited in Turkey.

Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language, prohibiting the language in education and broadcast media.

The use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet are prohibited in Turkey and has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003. Kurdish Newroz must be written as ‘Nevruz’ with Turkish alphabet.

Kurds in all four countries have suffered persecution and have been denied the right to speak their language and enjoy their culture and, as a result, the prospect of an independent Kurdish nation continues to be a compelling goal for many.

“Kurdistan is a geo-cultural region wherein the Kurds have historically formed a prominent majority population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based,” Google says on its map.

In July 2017, the Turkish parliament adopted new guidelines that banned use of the terms “Kurdistan,” “Kurdish regions,” and “Armenian genocide.”

In late 2017, Osman Baydemir, a prominent Kurdish lawmaker, was suspended for using the word “Kurdistan” in a parliament session.

After using the word, he was asked by the speaker of parliament where Kurdistan is located.

“It is here,” he replied, clapping his hand on his heart.

While there is no ‘Kurdistan’ state today, it has existed on maps for centuries.

(With files from nrttv.com | rudaw.net | agencies)

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