Kurdistan Observer

16 Octobre 2005 - Ankara,(DIHA)-Hacettepe University students collected and signed a petition for Kurdish to be optional lesson in the education curriculum in 2001 are punished.

Ankara 11th Criminal Court For Major punished two students 6 years and 3 months, another two students 3 years and 9 months imprisonment for defending education rights in the mother tongue.

4 years ago speculations about the education right to mother language was on the top of the agenda in Turkey with the pressure of EU there were some changes in the law. However, while giving permission to broadcasting in Kurdish, requests for education in Kurdish faced years of imprisonment.

Tens of thousands of students signing the petition for "Kurdish education" either punished or expelled by their schools or court case is opened.

While the charges for students from different cities with similar court cases dropped, students from Hacettepe Üniversity punished for up to 6 years of imprisonment.

Head of 11th Criminal Court For Major Mehmet Orhan Karadeniz, punished Hacettepe University students wanting Kurdish to be an optional lesson in schools.

Nihat Avci and Veli Ay who signed the petition were imprisoned for 6 years and 3 months for "being a member of an illegal organizsation".

Hüseyin Bilgin and Haydar Karaca of the same üniversity were imprisoned for 3 years and 9 months for "making the work of the illegal organization easier"