On the eve of International Mother Language Day, 21 February, Kurdish representatives from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, alongside other ethnic groups, took a stand in the Turkish Parliament to condemn the state’s policies of linguistic assimilation. They denounced the imposition of Turkish as the sole official language, which they argue marginalises and suppresses languages like Kurdish. These policies, they asserted, constitute a form of silent violence—erasing distinct identities and hindering the prospect of achieving social peace.
Saliha Aydeniz, a Kurdish politician from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and a current member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), underscored the importance of the mother tongue:
“Given the fundamental right to speak one’s mother tongue and the deep cultural reverence Kurds hold for their language, we mark International Mother Language Day every year.”
She highlighted the linguistic diversity of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, the latter the historical name for what is now Turkey’s Kurdish-majority east and southeast, also referred to as Bakur (North Kurdistan). She placed this within the broader context of Kurdistan’s four parts—Rojava (West, in Syria), Başûr (South, in Iraq), and Rojhilat (East, in Iran). In doing so, she contrasted Turkey’s restrictive language policies with the official recognition of Turkish in several other countries.
“While numerous languages once flourished in this vast region, many have now been silenced. Yet, in countries such as Iraq, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Cyprus, and Romania, Turkish enjoys official status. So why does Turkey fear recognising Kurdish?”
Aydeniz stressed the systematic exclusion of Kurdish from public life, particularly in education, healthcare, and legal proceedings, and emphasised its disproportionate impact on women:
“Kurdish is a deep-rooted language spoken by millions. It must be fully integrated into education, public services, and all facets of life. The right to education in one’s mother tongue is enshrined in international agreements—Kurdish children cannot be denied this right. The exclusion of mother tongue access in the health and justice systems disproportionately impacts women, with tragic consequences. We have not forgotten Fatma Altınmakas.”
She further denounced the state’s assimilationist policies:
“Language assimilation is a form of violence. To erase a people’s language is to erase their identity. A ban on Kurdish is a denial of the Kurdish people. This language will not be erased through bans, trustee appointments, or deceptive policies like elective courses. A nation’s languages are its wealth—not something to be erased. It is time to build a Turkey where all peoples and languages can live freely in the 21st century.”
Representatives of the Zazaki-Kirdaskî, Homshetsma (Hemshin), Armenian, Georgian, Kurmanji, Circassian, Abkhaz, and Syriac communities also spoke in Parliament, addressing the assembly in their native languages. They argued that Turkish has been imposed as the only official language, endangering other languages and pushing them towards extinction. They called for linguistic diversity to be formally recognised to ensure coexistence and cultural preservation.
MED-DER Executive Director Halil İbrahim Taş, in an interview with the Mesopotamia News Agency, criticised the Turkish state’s suppression of the Kurdish language. He argued that Kurdish must be granted official status, not confined to elective courses, and warned that decades of repression have brought the language to the brink of extinction.
Taş noted that since the founding of the Turkish Republic, dozens of Anatolian languages have disappeared, with Kurdish surviving only through oral tradition and resistance. Citing UNESCO, he warned that any language not spoken by children is endangered—a status that now applies to Kurdish. He urged Kurdish families to speak the language at home and push for its inclusion in public life, stressing that legal protection and official recognition are crucial.
UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day in 1999 to celebrate and protect the world’s 6,000 living languages. While multilingual education and learning foreign languages are crucial for promoting cross-cultural understanding and respect, the strict one-nation, one-language policies in Turkey, Iran, and across the Middle East have put the Kurdish language at risk of extinction. These policies threaten the survival of the language, undermining its daily use, educational presence, and official status.
