Police raid ‘Kurdish language cafe” in Diyarbakır

In an effort to raise awareness about the Kurdish language and its usage in daily life, Pîne Cafe

A cafe in Diyarbakır recently announced it would exclusively serve customers in Kurdish to mark May 15 Kurdish Language Day. However, this morning, Pinê Cafe a police raid.

Police officers conducted a search at the cafe, located in the Ofis neighborhood, and detained the owner, Ramazan Şimşek, around 5:00 a.m. The raid was reportedly based on a tip-off, and Şimşek's legal proceedings are currently ongoing at the courthouse, as reported by Rûdaw.

Vedat Şimşek, Ramazan's brother, recounted that the police forced their way into the cafe and disrupted the premises. The cafe had previously been targeted on social media with claims that "Speaking Turkish is forbidden in this cafe," which brought it under scrutiny.

The Diyarbakır Bar Association has expressed support for Şimşek, providing him with legal assistance. In a statement, the Bar highlighted the importance of promoting the use of different languages in public spaces and criticized the discriminatory practices against the Kurdish language. 

The initiative aimed to promote the use of native languages in public life and to draw attention to obstructive practices against this goal, said the bar. The police action against providing services in Kurdish, despite it being a legitimate and lawful right, exemplifies intolerance and discriminatory practices against the Kurdish language, it added. (TY/VK)