Fifteen inmates in Turkey’s Batman prison have been put in solitary confinement for 15 days as punishment for performing a traditional Kurdish folk dance, the Bianet news website reported on Thursday.
The disciplinary decision accused the inmates of disseminating “Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) propaganda.”
The decision stated that the inmates’ actions violated prison rules and, if left unpunished, could set a bad example for others, threaten prison security, disrupt rehabilitation efforts and lead to serious incidents.
The PKK has been leading an armed insurgency against the Turkish government since the 1980s in a campaign that has claimed the lives of some 40,000 people. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Zeynep Oduncu, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Dem Parti), has questioned Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç about the legal basis for the punishment. She also raised concerns about restrictions on cultural expression and whether they align with Turkey’s international commitments, warning that such actions may deepen social polarization and infringe on human rights. Kurds in Turkey have long faced restrictions on their cultural expression. Since 1937, Kurdish language, clothing, folklore were banned, and following the 1980 military coup, speaking Kurdish was forbidden. Although the early 2000s saw improvements in Kurdish visibility in media as part of Turkey’s bid for EU membership, a nationalist drift in recent years, particularly with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) forming an alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has sparked a rise in anti-Kurdish sentiment.
