Turkish governor not allowing naming Bitlis street after William Saroyan?

Turkish governor not allowing naming Bitlis street after William Saroyan? –

News.am London-based Gomidas Institute Director Ara Sarafian stated that the governor Turkey’s Bitlis Province, Orhan Ozturk, does not approve the Bitlis City Council decision on naming a city street after famous American-Armenian writer William Saroyan.

Sarafian noted that the governor does not want to see a street in Bitlis named after Saroyan claiming that Saroyan has nothing to do with Bitlis, reported Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul. Sarafian stressed that the mayor of Bitlis city had conveyed this information to him.

Bitlis mayor Nevin Tasdemir Dagkiran, for her part, claimed that she did not say such a thing to Sarafian, and that the governor had no objections to naming a street after Saroyan. She added that aside from the pro-Kurdish “Peace and Democracy Party” (BDP) members’ votes, a ruling party member’s vote is also necessary to finally name a Bitlis street after William Saroyan.

To note, Wiliam Saroyan’s family was from Bitlis.