BDP deputy gets surname in Kurdish

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Adil Kurt has changed his last name to “Zozani,” making him the first deputy to change a Turkish surname to a Kurdish one, daily Radikal reported yesterday.

The Ankara 9th Civil Court of First Instance agreed to replace the surname Kurt with Zozani finding “legal interests” in this change, upon the deputy’s demand. Kurt told the court that he was writing for Azadiya Welat newspaper using Zozani as his surname and that many people knew him as Adil Zozani and did not recognize him when going under the name Adil Kurt. The deputy filed the suit on December 2011, saying that he wanted to change his surname to Zozani, which means those living and settled in the valley in Kurdish.