Instead, they were referred to as "mountain Turks."

After years of insisting that Kurds were only "mountain Turks," Ankara explored a different approach under President Turgut Ozal.

The Ankara Government, for example, refuses to allow the Kurdish language to be used in schools, and refers to Kurds as "mountain Turks."

Officials have ceased pretending that Kurds are simply "mountain Turks," and it is no longer a criminal offense for Kurds to speak their own language on the street.

They were not called Kurds but rather "mountain Turks."

The Government refers to them as "mountain Turks who have forgotten their language."

Being Muslim no longer counted, and the Kurds - frequently dismissed as "mountain Turks" - found themselves second-class citizens, denied the right to use their languages or express their culture.

Until the last few years, it was considered dangerous for newspapers even to use the word "Kurd"; instead, they spoke of "mountain Turks."

Most of it has since become part of Turkey, and the Turks assert that there are no such people as Kurds, just "mountain Turks."

The region's people are officially known as "mountain Turks."