Kurdish bookstore banned from Trendyol online marketplace

Trendyol, one of Turkey's largest e-commerce platforms, has shut down the Pirtukakurdi store, which sells Kurdish books and cultural items without providing any concrete justification, according to the store owner Bawer Berşev.

More than 1,200 of their products were removed from sale, with products containing Kurdish language or including the words Kurdish and Kurdistan "systematically blocked," Berşev told bianet.

Trendyol cites suspicion of counterfeit products or false brands as the reason for removals, but Berşev believes this is a pretext for a discriminatory practice.

Citing a biographical book about Celal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader and the former president of Iraq, titled "Mam Celal: A Life Dedicated to Kurdistan," Berşev said, "When we uploaded the book to the system, the algorithm automatically rejected it. The reason given was a 'brand error'."

When they removed the word Kurdistan from the product page and uploaded the book as "The Life of Mam Celal," the system banned the book again, this time because of the word Kurdistan on its cover, Berşev claimed.

This practice was not limited to books, as balloons, mugs, posters, and paintings with Kurdish writing were also removed from sale, he added.

Berşev noted that they actively avoid selling political products, yet they still faced such treatment. "We are careful not to sell political products or items associated with any party. About 90 percent of our products consisted of books and items bearing cultural motifs."

Reduced scores over Kurdish books

Berşev's store was handed two "violation points" by Trendyol on Jun 12 over the book "History of Kurds and Kurdistan." This happened despite the fact that the book had its own product page on Trendyol and was sold by other sellers before them, said Berşev.

"A day later, the products in the store were put under a collective review," he added. "Around 1,200 to 1,300 of our products, including books, Kurdish novels, children's books, paintings, posters, Kurdish balloons, and mugs, were suddenly closed to sale. Then, the store was given 48 violation points and was completely closed."

Berşev added that the removed books included works from the Avesta, Nûbihar, Dara, and Dipnot publishing houses, the latter of which publishes books by Selahattin Demirtaş.

Trendyol's response

Berşev stated that they filed an appeal through Trendyol's seller support system after the store was closed, and they were informed of the justifications of "brand error" and "possible counterfeit products."

Even though all of their products have invoices and that they offered to submit these documents, Berşev said they received automated responses to their objections. "We stated that we could send all invoices if requested. However, we were constantly given the same automated response, and we were told that the decision to close the store would not change."

Berşev alleged that products with Kurdish writing are accepted as "suspicious" without their content being evaluated.

"A proverb in Kurdish is written on a mug," Berşev said. "Because they do not know what is written, they prefer to completely close all products instead of reviewing them."

Sales continue on other marketplaces

Berşev said that the same products continue to be sold on other online marketplaces and that they have not encountered any similar sanctions there.

He argued that Trendyol's practice a discriminatory policy that limits the visibility of the Kurdish language and culture.

"We have been selling on marketplaces for five years," Berşev said. "If an illegal product is in question, it can be removed. However, these are all legally published books and cultural products. The problem is not that the products are illegal, but that they are in Kurdish or carry expressions related to Kurds."

Trendyol has not yet made a public statement regarding the closure of Berşev's store. (NÖ/VK)