At last, Turkish Kurds are able to voice their hope of freedom

Telegraph

Turkey was told yesterday that it was falling far short of the EU's civil rights standards. The EC report made clear that Turkey could not join until it used its influence to end the 30-year partition of Cyprus . Amberin Zaman, in Batman, reports that the EU is already making life better for the Kurdish minority.

A giant neon sign in the Kurdish national colours of red, green, and yellow protrudes from a sprawling office complex on the edge of Batman's main square. Yesterday, scores of Kurds, young and old, filed into the building to enrol at what is about to become Turkey 's first officially sanctioned Kurdish language course. "This is a dream come true for millions of Kurds and it is thanks to Europe ," said Aydin Unesi, the headmaster of the language school. Mr Unesi said it was "a matter of days" before final authorization was granted for classes to begin. Full text