ISTANBUL - Kurds living in Istanbul stated that they want their children to receive education in their native language and demanded that Kurdish education be provided in schools.

 

The 2023-2024 academic year in public schools started on September 11. The new academic year opened in the shadow of the problems facing education in the country and the region, which have accumulated and grown over the past years. The academic year started with systemic problems and deficiencies due to the lack of education in the mother tongue. Kurds living in Istanbul reiterated their demand for education in their native language.

 

The citizens to whom we held a microphone regarding education in the mother tongue in the Fatih District in the Bağcılar district of Istanbul and the Hacıahmet District in the Beyoğlu district, underlined that education in the mother tongue should be given constitutional status in order to protect the languages and cultures of the Kurds.

 

'LET KURDISH BE THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE'

 

28-year-old Serdar Ekinci from Êlih stated that the Kurds have struggled so far to protect their culture, language and national values. Ekinci said: “Our demand is that the Kurdish language be the official language and the language of education from pre-school to university. This is the most legitimate and humane demand," he said. Education in the mother tongue is a necessity. Teaching in the mother tongue as an elective course will not contribute to the learning of Kurdish, Kurdish children are subjected to assimilation everywhere under the pressure of "Turkish".

 

'EDUCATION IN NATIVE TONGUE IS A MUST'

 

Expressing that education should be provided in the mother tongue according to the sociological structure of each region, Ekinci said, “Today, in places where Turks live in majority in Germany, Turkish citizens are given education in Turkish. This does not harm the dynamics of that country. It is a method that only protects existing differences. That's why Kurdish education should be given as a compulsory course along with Turkish. They used to reject the Kurdish language, then they made it an elective course. So this attitude towards the Kurdish needs to change. It is a necessity to receive education in the mother tongue."

 

TURKIZATION POLICY

 

Selim Karahan (29) from Mêrdîn emphasized that everyone has the right to receive education in their native language. Warning that Kurdish children are slowly forgetting their language, Karahan drew attention to the bans on Kurdish and said: “The state is trying to Turkify us by not teaching our mother tongue in schools. This needs to be said clearly. My native language is Kurdish and I want my daughter to be educated in her native language. Preventing this is racism. For the right to education in the mother tongue, signatures must be collected and applications must be made to the Ministry of National Education, because our children are forgetting their own language and culture. I can say this to the Kurdish people. Protect your own language, if necessary, let's collect signatures and give it to the Ministry of National Education for education in the mother tongue."

 

'THE STATE WANTS TO TURKIFY THE KURDS'

 

Deham Kavcı (66) emphasized that the basis of the struggle of the Kurdish people is the freedom of their culture and language. Kavcı said: "It is forbidden to be a Kurd in Turkey and drew attention that the fact that Kurdish is not taught as the language of education in schools is related to the Kurdish question. Since the Turkish state was established, everything has been forbidden to the Kurds. The existence and rights of the Kurdish people are not recognized. Whether they kill or arrest us, we will not give up our Kurdishness. There is no democracy and human rights in Turkey. If there were, we would not be talking about education in the mother tongue today. They are trying to force us to become Turks. The state wants to turkify the Kurds and we will continue to insist that we are Kurds."

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel - Esra Solin Dal