Presidency releases written statement in Kurdish for first time

ANKARA

The Turkish presidency has released a written statement on the evacuation of the tomb of Süleyman Şah in four languages, including Kurdish, marking the first time a presidential statement has been delivered in Kurdish both in Turkey and to the international press.

Although the Turkish Prime Ministry Office of Public Diplomacy (KDK) has been releasing information and statements to the press in four languages - Arabic, English, Kurdish and Turkish – for the last four months, this is the first time a statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been released in Kurdish to nationwide media outlets, officials from the KDK confirmed, speaking with the Hürriyet Daily News on Feb. 23.

“Over the last four months, the KDK has been delivering the four-language releases to a mailing group of journalists following developments near the border town of Suruç in Şanlıurfa province. Those press releases included public statements by both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu,” an official from the KDK said.

“Yes, we can say this was the first time a statement by Mr. President has been released to the nationwide media as translated to Kurdish,” the official added.

In his Feb. 22 statement, Erdoğan congratulated both the government and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for their “successful” overnight “Şah Fırat” evacuation operation into neighboring Syria to evacuate troops guarding an Ottoman tomb, moving the crypt to a new location.

“On behalf of myself and on behalf of my nation, I congratulate our government and our armed forces that carried out this successful operation, which is beyond all kinds of appreciation,” Erdoğan said in the written statement.

In the past few years, on different occasions, including during visits to the in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq, both Erdoğan and Davutoğlu verbally used Kurdish sentences, aiming to highlight the fraternity of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples.