A legal arrangement which could pave the way for the use of mother tongue in courts was sent to Parliament on Monday evening.

The arrangement is part of a 13-article amendment proposal to the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK) and to the Law on Execution of Penalties and Security Precautions.

The right to use one's mother tongue in courts is one of the demands of Kurdish political prisoners on hunger strike since 12 September.

The proposal states that “the defendant is given the opportunity to make his verbal defense in a language in which he states that he will better express himself,” according to press agencies.

The legal arrangement also states that “relevant government authorities shall provide an interpreter for defendants who don’t know Turkish but not for those who know Turkish but ask to make their verbal defense in another language”. In other words it appears that defendants should pay for interpretation service.

The AKP government claims that the arrangement would satisfy expectations concerning the use of mother tongue in courts.