Malatya province municipality implemented a new regulation to rename the city's 2,400 streets to commemorate its notable artists and writers - including Malatya-born assassinated journalist Hrant Dink.

Ahmet Çakır, Malatya mayor, said the municipality mainly aimed to avoid the confusion caused by several similar street names.

"We have dozens of streets starting with school. 1st school street, 2nd school street, etc. it was impossible to form a database," Çakır said. "We still have slots available and we are going to give new street names if necessary."

While Hrant Dink's name was given to the street where he was born, other notable Malatya-born artists and writers whose names were given to streets included Ahmet Kaya (Kurdish activist and singer), Belkıs Akkale (singer), İlyas Salman  and Kemal Sunal (actor).

"We have asked local NGOs to give name proposals. We might have missing artist names in out limited list. We will reconsider the streets after their submission." (NV/BM)