GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: the Near/Middle East
1991: Turkey lifts its decade-long ban on the use of the Kurdish language in publications.

Although the Kurdish-language ban -- in effect since Turkey's military rule in 1980 -- is lifted for use in publications, the ban on its use in the political arena remains in place.

PBS Conversation on Turkey
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/foreign_correspondence /jan-june99/turkey_2-25.html

Nicole Pope, correspondent for French newspaper Le Monde and co-author of a new book, Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey, discusses the Kurds and the situation in Turkey. (February 1999)
PBS Death Sentence
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east /jan-june99/ocalan_6-29.html

Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was sentence to death by a Turkish court for committing treason. NewsHour talks with two experts about the sentence and its impact. (June 1999)
PBS The Kurdish Question
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east /jan-june99/kurds_2-17.html

Three experts discuss the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan by Turkish intelligence, which sparked pro-Kurdish demonstrations and violence in Europe and elsewhere. (February 1999)