With the campaign in full swing ahead of the June 7 parliamentary polls, Turkey has been introduced to the first “official” edition of the Quran in Kurdish. The public announcement of the holy book’s Kurdish edition, published by the Religious Affairs Directorate after five years of work, was reserved for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Addressing crowds in Batman and Siirt in the first week of May, Erdogan brandished a copy of the Kurdish-language Quran as he lashed out at the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP), the chief rival of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast. “They have nothing to do with religion. Look, the Religious Affairs Directorate, which they want to shut down, has printed the Quran in Kurdish for you,” he said.

It was not the first time that a Kurdish-language Quran has made an appearance at an election rally. During his presidential campaign last year, Erdogan had also brandished a Kurdish copy of the holy book, printed by a nongovernmental organization. This time, however, the indignation he triggered was unprecedented.

Opposition leaders whose electoral platforms have focused on rampant poverty and unemployment, an ailing education system and the government’s authoritarian tilt suddenly found themselves caught up in a controversy over the Quran.