DİYARBAKIR - The examination of detained journalist Zeynel Bulut was blocked by the soldiers after he explained his complaint in Kurdish.

 

Xwebûn newspaper editor Zeynel Bulut, who was arrested in Diyarbakır on June 16, 2022, along with 15 of her colleagues, faced the treatment of "speak Turkish" in Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital, where he was taken due to his illness. According to the narratives of Bulut, who conveyed the experiences to his visitors in writing; Bulut explained his complaint in Kurdish at the hospital where he was taken on May 14. The soldiers in Diyarbakır Prison No. 2 intervened and said: "Don't speak Kurdish, speak Turkish, you know Turkish". Reacting to the intervention of the soldiers, Bulut replied: "Don't be racist, I speak in any language I want. Kurdish is my mother tongue and I express myself better in Kurdish. That's why you can't interfere with which language I speak."

 

'KURDISH IS FORBIDDEN, SPEAK TURKISH'

 

Thereupon, the doctor intervened and tried to persuade the soldiers with the words "The patient speaks in whatever language he expresses himself well". However, the soldiers insisted on speaking Turkish. While Bulut continued to convey his complaint in Kurdish, the soldiers intervened once again and said, "You don't understand why it is forbidden to speak Kurdish, speak Turkish."

 

Bulut responded: "Look, I'm a journalist, I know my human rights as an individual. I know my rights as a patient. That's why you can't ban or prevent me from speaking Kurdish. If you don't understand, it's your problem, bring an interpreter."

 

RESPONSE FROM THE DOCTOR

 

The doctor, who intervened again, said: "I speak Kurdish, what could be more natural than telling my patient's problem in Kurdish?" To the soldiers' reply, "But he speaks Turkish," the doctor replied, "Would you have taken the same approach if he had spoken in Arabic or English?".

 

After the discussion, the soldiers handcuffed Bulut's hands, squeezing his wrists, without allowing Bulut to be examined. The soldiers took Bulut back to the prison where he was detained after waiting in the hospital garden for hours.

 

Bulut stated that he will file a criminal complaint about what happened through his lawyer.