State has to Protect the Laz Culture

Intellectuals criticized the fact that the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television (TRT), which started to broadcast programs in languages and dialects other than Turkish, is not broadcasting programs in the Laz language. They visited TRT on June 28 and asked for Laz broadcasts.

Researcher-writer Ismail Bucaklisi, lawyer Memedali Baris Besli, artists Birol Topaloglu, Refika Kadioglu and lawyer Arzu Kal met with TRT officials and said that some recent baseless claims disturbed and insulted Turks with Laz origins.

Intellectuals asked for the "Laz document" from TRT

According to the intellectuals, TRT gave up on Laz language broadcasts, after journalist Oktay Pirim's intelligence reports, which claimed there were attempts to "revitalize the Pontus-Greek State."

The intellectuals, on June 17, petitioned TRT and demanded a copy of the intelligence report.

They added that they would follow the issue closely and go to the European

Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if necessary.

Kal: "The state's mission is to protect cultures"

In the website, www.lazuri.com, lawyer Arzu Kal wrote: "Although it is up to the inheritors of a culture to protect that particular culture, it is true that the state is also responsible for preventing a culture from vanishing. The Laz language and culture deserves to be protected as do all other languages and cultures."

Kal also responded to the claims:

* This claim has no historic or scientific base. It is quite clear that Laz people and Greeks do not have any relations.

* They can only be neighbors who shared a close geography. It is impossible to find a common history for the Laz people and Greeks.

* The two languages are also very different. The Laz language comes from the South Western Caucasus Language Group, while Greek comes from the Indian-European Language Group.

* However, the report claims that there are similarities between the Laz language and Greek. It would benefit the society if these baseless and unfair claims were rebutted. (EO/EA/YE)