The Associated Press 
May 23, 2002

A Turkish court has rejected charges brought against seven families who gave their children traditional Kurdish names, reports said Wednesday. 

Prosecutors in the town of Dicle in the largely Kurdish southeast had brought a case against the families in March for giving 23 children names such as Serhat, Baran, Rodja and Zelal. They were charged with breaking a law barring parents from giving their children names that "do not fit our national culture, ethical laws, norms and traditions." 

But judge Sirvan Erteken threw the case out Tuesday, saying that some of these Kurdish names were common names in Turkey, the daily Radikal reported Wednesday. Erteken told the families they did not have to rename their children. 

Prosecutors argued that the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, used these names as code names for its members, and demanded that the families rename their children. 

Firat Anli, a lawyer for the families, said that the names did not harm Turkey's national customs and traditions. 

"We even have a film called 'Berivan,"' said Anli. 'Berivan' - the title of a popular television series - was one of the banned names listed in the indictment. 

The government has drawn up a list of banned Kurdish names, and has ordered local officials to curb the use of Kurdish place names. Kurds often complain that Turkish authorities in the southeast change Kurdish names for Turkish ones when issuing birth certificates for Kurdish babies. 

Turkey fought a 15-year war against the autonomy-seeking PKK. The fighting has slowed since the terrorists declared a unilateral cease-fire in 1999, but sporadic clashes continue. The conflict has left 37,000 dead since 1984. 

Turkey, which is seeking membership in the European Union, is under increasing pressure from the group to grant cultural rights to Kurds. The government is apparently considering relaxing bans on broadcasting and education in Kurdish, in an effort to advance its membership bid. 

Turkey has argued that granting special rights to its estimated 12 million Kurds could arouse ethnic tension and even lead to the division of the country.