JINHA

WAN – The closure of Zarok TV, the only channel airs Kurdish language children’s cartoons in Turkey, upsets children. “The first time, I watched a cartoon in my language; however, they didn’t allow it,” said the children and asked their channel to be reopened.

Zarok TV is among the shutdown channels within the scope of the decree law No. 668 which was issued during the process of State of Emergency. Zarok TV is a channel for children. There were cartoons in Kurdish language. Van children are upset due to the closure of their channel and they want to watch cartoons in Kurdish not Turkish.

Mehmet Kaya (10) said he learned Kurdish due to Zarok TV and he could talk to his family. Mehmet said, “I began to watch Zarok TV after I did my homework. My only fun was the cartoons that I watched on Zarok TV. I learned my native language from this channel. I learned my language and had fun. They should open Zarok TV again.”

Nesrin Bitmiş (11) noted that she watched the Zarok TV with her friends. She said, “I watched Zarok TV with my siblings and friends. Zarok TV was closed. We don’t want to watch TV anymore. We cannot watch cartoons in our native language anymore. We don’t want watch cartoons in Turkish. We want Zarok TV. They should open our channel again.”

11-year-old Azad Tekin also stated that he learned Kurdish language while watching Zarok TV. Azad said, “My mother doesn’t know speaking in Turkish so I watched Zarok TV and learned my language better. I speak to my mother in Kurdish now; however Zarok TV was closed. What can we watch now? I don’t want to watch Turkish channels. Zarok TV was fun. I watched it with my siblings and friends. Zarok TV should be opened again; we want to watch cartoons in our language.”

(db-hk/ng/gc)