In Turkey, Kurdish state television has started.

In Turkey, from 1 January 2009 began the first public broadcasting Kurdish TV - TRT-9, reports Der Spiegel. The channel will broadcast round-the-clock news, music shows and films in Kurdish.

Broadcast opened by welcoming Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which he delivered in Kurdish.

According to the Der Spiegel, this in itself is a small sensation: Erdogan became the first prime minister, publicly zagovorivshim in Kurdish. Until 1991, the Kurdish language was banned in Turkey.

Before the TRT-9, there were only a few television programs in the Kurdish language, which were strictly regulated. Since 2004, they went on one of the state television and lasted no more than half a week.

The EU, which wants to enter Turkey, Ankara has repeatedly called on to give the Kurdish minority more rights. The advent of television in Kurdish by the Turkish authorities regard as a sign of the further democratization of public and political life

In addition, as expected, TRT-9 will be able to delay a part of the 12-milionnoy TV audience of private Kurdish Roj-TV is close to the Kurdish Workers' Party, which for over twenty years of struggle to establish an independent state, which would include Kurds living in Turkey, Iran and Iraq.