Kurds of Turkey

This report describes some of the events that have taken place since Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel’s coalition government took office in November 1991 and their effects on the Turkish Kurds in southeast Turkey. While the law outlawing the speaking of Kurdish on the streets was repealed, it is still illegal to speak Kurdish in court, in official settings, or at public meetings, and most of the cultural prohibitions remain in effect. Also, the PKK’s guerrilla war continues unabated and appears to have far more support among Kurds than it did in 1988.