Turkey’s parliament has forbidden its lawmakers from using the certain phrases such as “Kurdistan” or “Armenian genocide” during legislative sessions following the passing of a bill package on Thursday night.
Though the bill does not explicitly set out which words and phrases are banned from the Turkish parliament, terms that are “in violation of the administrative structure” as defined by the “indivisible wholeness” of the Republic of Turkey will now be banned.
In effect, terms such as 'Kurdistan,' 'Kurdish provinces,' or the 'Kurdish region' are forbidden, reports Kurdistan 24.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) put forward the bill package that was subsequently passed by the Turkish parliament’s constitutional committee.
"Insulting or swearing at the history and shared past of the Turkish nation" was also stipulated against in the bill, and will likely effect references to the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire.
See more from Kurdistan 24 here and Public Radio of Armenia here.
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