ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany's West German Public Broadcasting (WDR) has decided to discontinue its Kurdish-language program, 'Cosmo Kurdish,' ending nearly 40 years of broadcasting despite continuing its Persian, Turkish, and Arabic-language services.
According to the broadcaster's justification, most Kurds living in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where WDR is based, are Turkish citizens, making Turkish-language programming sufficient to serve their needs.
However, Kamil Bazirgan, one of the veteran presenters of the program, rejected that explanation.
"The primary reason provided by the institution is low listenership," Bazirgan told Rudaw’s Diaspora program, presented by Hemen Abdulla, on Friday, adding that the broadcaster itself contributed to the decline in audience numbers over recent years.
According to Bazirgan, WDR gradually reduced the program's reach by changing it from a live broadcast to a pre-recorded format and later turning it into a podcast.
"Cosmo Kurdish" began broadcasting in February 1987 as a neutral Kurdish-language program. While it initially aired for a short period, it was later expanded to a one-hour program before facing gradual cutbacks.
Bazirgan said the program's staff was reduced from six employees to just two. He added that the show, which previously covered five topics every Sunday from across all four parts of Kurdistan as well as Germany, was eventually shortened into a weekly podcast.
The program was broadcast in both the Sorani and Kurmanji dialects and focused on developments across Kurdistan and within the Kurdish diaspora.
The creation of the Kurdish-language section in 1987 was widely viewed as a recognition of the Kurdish people by the German government. The program was due to mark its 40th anniversary in February 2027.
The decision to end the service marks the loss of one of the longest-running Kurdish-language broadcasts in Europe.
