Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Turkey Shutters Popular Kurdish Kids Channel

by Dorian Jones

   DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY --

   Groundbreaking Zarok TV was a first in Turkey: a children's channel
   broadcasting in the Kurdish language. Its mix of popular international
   and homegrown programs was an instant hit. But Zarok TV is now off the
   air, and has been for several weeks. Its studios are sealed under an
   emergency rule decree, on charges of supporting terrorism. Apo Oguz,
   Zarok's director, said there was no warning before the closure.

   "It was a big surprise for us," Oguz said, "because the content of this
   TV channel is neither political nor ideological. It is all about
   children, the culture, ways of life and language of the Kurds."

   In terms of content, the children's channel director added, "we were
   broadcasting cartoons that are watched everywhere in the world, dubbed
   into Kurdish. There is nothing else."
   Learning tool
   The shutdown shocked families who came to depend on the channel, not
   only to entertain their children, but also to help them learn the
   Kurdish language, after decades when it was banned and shunned.
   "It was midnight when my husband woke me up and told me about the
   closure of Zarok TV. I thought this was a joke. But unfortunately it
   was a sad reality," Cevahir Duzgun, whose children were avid fans of
   Zarok told VOA.

   "I was very sad and heartbroken," Duzgun said, "and I just thought, how
   I am going to tell the children?"
   Protests have spread across social media, as many Kurdish children
   refuse to give up Zarok TV without a fight.

   Government stance
   The government has dismissed accusations that it is rolling back its
   own previous reforms, which had given media access to Kurdish speakers
   and Kurdish-language programs.

   Muhammed Akar, who leads the ruling AKP Party in Diyarbakir, insisted
   the government remained committed to protecting Kurds' cultural rights.
   "There is no operation or banning against a language or a culture,
   because there are many Kurdish channels, and they continue
   broadcasting," Akar said. "There is the state TRT Kurdi and other
   channels," he added, "but I have voiced my concern and sensitivity for
   Zarok TV's closure to the authorities, and I follow this situation
   closely."
   Pro-Kurd stance
   More than a dozen Kurdish radio and TV channels have been shuttered
   under emergency rule. Kurdish cultural centers and theaters also have
   been closed. Those actions, and the closure of Zarok TV in particular,
   clearly signal that Kurdish cultural gains are under threat, said Idris
   Baluken of the pro-Kurdish HDP party.
   "President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan sees Kurdish children watching
   cartoons in their own language as a threat to himself and to the
   Turkish state," Baluken said. His HDP People's Democratic Party, a pro
   Kurdish group, was founded in 2012 with a goal of challenging the
   divide between ethnic Kurds and Turks in Turkey.

   President Erdogan "thinks Kurds have no right to learn Kurdish,"
   Baluken said. "This is cultural genocide."
   The European parliament has condemned Zarok's closure. For Diyarbakir's
   children, the TV channel cannot come back soon enough. It's a rare ray
   of sunlight in a war-torn region.