Uzay Bulut
“Turkey’s president wants to purge Western words from its language,” reported The Economist on June 15.
[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s] latest purge
has a more abstract target. Mr. Erdoğan wants to rid Turkish of
unsightly Western loan-words. Turkey faces a mortal threat from foreign
“affectations”, Mr. Erdoğan declared on May 23rd. “Where do attacks
against cultures and civilisations begin? With language.” Mr. Erdoğan
started by ordering the word “arena”, which reminded him of ancient
Roman depravity, removed from sports venues across the country.
