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Turkish TV networks to begin broadcasts in Kurdish language

ANKARA, Feb 21, 2006 (AFP) - Two Turkish television stations have been authorized to begin broadcasting in Kurdish beginning next month, television executives said Tuesday, in a move that reflects the country's efforts to grant its minority Kurd community increased rights.

The heads of Gun TV-Radio and Soz Radio-Television, private stations which broadcast from Diyarbakir in the majority Kurd-populated southeast, were invited on Monday to the Turkish media control board (RTUK), said Radio Gun program director Cemal Dogen.

"It was a very important meeting because for the first time we have been officially invited by the RTUK to talk about broadcasting conditions," said Dogen.

The broadcast agreement came after several months of negotiations.

The Kurdish language programming will most likely begin on March 21, which is the Kurdish new year also known as Newroz and the first day of spring.

The number of broadcast hours is still fairly limited, with radio given five hours a week and television four.

In 2004 Turkish state television broke taboos by broadcasting the country's first Kurdish language program in a move seen as complying with European Union wishes ahead of membership talks with Turkey.

Turkey's Kurd population is estimated at between 10 and 15 million, out of a total population of around 70 million.

Some 35,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) picked up arms for self-rule.

The situation has calmed since the 1999 arrest and life imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.