Bayram A., a Kurdish youth of 15 living in the southeastern town of Bismil in Turkey, is being tried by the State Security Court for “inciting hatred and enmity on the basis of religion, race, language or regional differences", and faces a sentence of five years in prison. His crime? When asked to recite the customary Turkish pledge of allegiance, instead of saying “Happy is the one who calls himself a Turkâ€, his teachers allege that he said, “Happy is the one who calls himself a Kurd.†Bayram claims his teachers misheard him, but admits that he is proud of being a Kurd. Such expression amounts to a crime in Turkey. His court date is next month.
