The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) strongly criticizes the decision by the WDR Broadcasting Council to approve the cancellation of Cosmo and, with it, the weekly one-hour Kurdish-language program. “The WDR’s decision to cancel the Kurdish program sends a fatal signal to a minority that is persecuted in its home countries and also experiences exclusion in Germany,” emphasizes STP Middle East consultant Dr. Kamal Sido. The STP calls on the WDR and other responsible parties to reconsider the decision and find a new home for the Kurdish program.
Due to the suppression of the Kurdish language in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, Kurdish broadcasts abroad play a vital role in preserving the language. “Program Director Andrea Schafarczyk’s suggestion that people who speak other languages can easily access content from their home countries ignores the fact that Kurdish media in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran are often controlled by political parties or governments. A program produced in Germany is also important because it offers Kurdish-speaking people an open, democratic forum and reliable information,” says Middle East consultant Sido.
At least one to two million Kurds now live in Germany. Many hold German citizenship and actively participate in political, economic, and social life.
The emergence of Kurdish programming in Germany was a laborious process and met with resistance from the Turkish government and its lobby in Germany. The dedicated radio and television journalist from Dortmund, Jürgen Hoppe (1938–2019), was largely responsible for the fact that a Kurdish radio program was created in Germany at all. It went on the air in 1987 as the first public Kurdish radio program on Radio Dortmund (WDR), featuring the voice of Cinur Ghaderi, a 16-year-old Kurdish woman at the time. At that time, it was only 15 minutes per week. Later, it increased to 20 and eventually 30 minutes.
In an article, Hoppe reported how the Turkish state and Turkish nationalist associations launched a smear campaign against him and the Kurdish program. However, Hoppe did not yield to pressure from the Turkish state and its supporters within the German authorities. The Kurdish program was initially broadcast under the title “Bernama Kurdi” at Funkhaus Europa and later at Cosmo in Cologne. Now the Kurdish program by a public broadcaster, currently called “COSMO KURDΔ, is to be silenced forever.
This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at 65]G378o6DD6CA.
Contact: Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East consultant – 65]G378o@5:D]<