People singing songs in Kurdish would have been arrested five years ago, the Diyarbakır state prosecutor told an audience Friday, June 3, adding that rational people do not stand against change, but instead encourage it.

Durdu Kavak, the chief prosecutor of the southeastern province, attended a ceremony Friday that was organized by Dicle University and featured conservatory artists singing songs in Turkish, Kurdish, Zaza dialect and Armenian.

“Had I participated such a program in 2006, when I first came here, and had such a piece [in Kurdish] been sung, I would have immediately left the ceremony, and then detained and arrested everyone singing the song,” Kavak said following the ceremony, adding that Diyarbakır has gone through many changes in general, Hurriyet Daily News reported citing Anatolia agency.

“The song called ‘Leyla’ was especially beautiful. Leyla is the name of a girl I once fell in love with while in university,” Kavak added.

Diyarbakır Gov. Mustafa Topark and university rector Ayşegül Jale Saraç were also present at the ceremony, which was organized for the university’s Medicine Faculty being granted the “ISO 900” certificate.

“They say the only unchangeable thing is change itself. Anyone who is rational does not stand [against] change, but rather encourages change. I thank you all for encouraging such a change,” Kavak said in his speech.