List of Kurdish place names in Turkey
The list of Kurdish place names offers a selection of the names of cities and villages in Turkey commonly used by Kurds . Different languages such as Kurmanji and Zazakî , each with inconsistent or non-fixed spelling and numerous regional variants, lead to name variants of the place names. The Kurdish place names are mostly the original place names. These are still used in most cases by the local population.
Renaming
The first renaming of place names took place in the Ottoman Empire. In the 1870s, countless place names were created that were related to the names of the sultans Abdülaziz (e.g. Aziziye) or Abdülhamid II (Hamidiye, İhsanihamid, Umranihamid, Bünyanihamid).
In Turkey , around 28,000 settlement names were changed nationwide in the 20th century, including more than 12,000 village names. In 1928 the Turkish Ministry of the Interior published a 1066 page complete listing of all place names. The book was called "Son Teşkilât-ı Mülkiyede Köylerimizin Adları". In 1933 an 810-page list of “village names to which the village law applies or does not apply” ( Köy kanunu tatbik olunan ve olunmayan köy isimleri ) was published.
The "nationalization" of place names began in 1920 and was intensified between 1956 and 1978. At that time, a special commission for name change ( Ad Değiştirme İhtisas Komisyonu ) was set up in the Interior Ministry , consisting of representatives of the Interior Ministry and the General Staff , cartographers from the Ministry of Defense and representatives of the Faculty of Language, History and Geography at the University of Ankara and the Society for Turkish Language .
The changes focused on the Black Sea region and eastern and southeastern Anatolia . In the Black Sea region it was mainly Greek, Lasi , Armenian and Georgian names that were Turkishified. In eastern and south-eastern Anatolia, the place names were changed because they were of Kurdish, Armenian, Persian or Arab origin. The Milliyet reported on 25 May 1986 that a total of 12,861 villages were renamed between November 1985 and the publication date of issue. The quota for Southeast Anatolia was 80.65 percent, while in the Ankara region 13.39 percent of the towns were affected by a name change. In the Kurdish settlement areas, almost all settlement names were changed due to the denial of the independent existence of the Kurdish language . Most of the name changes were made in the sense of a "schematic Turkishization of actual or supposed non-Turkish names". The renaming was mainly limited to rural settlements. Exceptions were the cities of Mustafakemalpaşa and Kırklareli ("Land of the Forties"). The latter was previously called Kırkkilise (Forty Churches). Antep , Maraş and Urfa received honorable nicknames.
Current situation
The language ban for Kurdish was lifted in 1991. Kurdish is offered as an elective in state schools. Media in Kurdish language are allowed. In 2010, a possible renaming of Kurdish place names was included in a draft law by the Erdoğan government . In recent years, numerous historical and Kurdish names have been re-entered as designations in the land register. In the first decade of the 21st century, around 120 renamed settlements were given their original names back. The municipality of Diyarbakir did end up 2,009 bilingual signs. After a few more reforms in 2013, renamed places were able to reapply their former names. As a first example, Aydınlar in Siirt was changed back to Tillo in November 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Mathias Bernath and Karl Nehring: Historische Bücherkunde Südosteuropa , Volume II, Modern Times, Part 1. Munich 1988, p. 51
- ↑ Ayşe Hür in the Taraf newspaper of March 1, 2009 ( Memento of the original of August 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Klaus Kreiser : The masters of names are losing control
- ↑ Harun Tunçel: Türkiye'de ismi değiştirilen köyler (PDF; 0.4 MB)
- ^ Klaus Kreiser in: Klaus Kreiser and Christoph K. Neumann: Little History of Turkey , Stuttgart 2009, p. 476
- ^ Klaus Kreiser: Small Turkey Lexicon . Munich 1992, p. 119
- ↑ See Act No. 2932 of October 19, 1983 on publications in languages other than Turkish, RG No. 18199 of October 22, 1983.
- ↑ With Art. 23 lit. e) of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713 of April 12, 1991, RG No. 20843 of April 12, 1991.
- ↑ www.haber5.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sevan Nişanyan: Adini unutan Ülke. Türkiye'de Adı Değiştirilen Yerler Sözlüğü. Istanbul 2010, p. Xviii
- ↑ Radikal daily newspaper of November 26, 2009
Web links
- Anatolic index (map showing the original name when entering a current place name)