In a significant step to promote the use of the Kurdish language in public spaces, the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır (Amed) in southeast Turkey launched a campaign distributing Kurdish-language price tags, door signs, and awareness badges to market vendors and shoppers. The initiative, organised ahead of International Mother Language Day on 21 February, aims to counter the longstanding assimilation policies that have restricted the visibility of Kurdish in Turkey.
Linguists widely acknowledge that a language’s survival depends on its active use in marketplaces and public life. With state-imposed restrictions limiting the presence of Kurdish in official and educational settings, Kurdish communities continue to push for its everyday use. Diyarbakır Co-Mayor Serra Bucak led the campaign at a neighbourhood market in Kooperatifler, Yenişehir district, where they distributed materials in Kurmancî and Zazakî, two main dialects of the Kurdish language spoken in the city. Vendors and shoppers received price tags in Kurdish, door signs reading “open” and “closed”, awareness-raising badges, and stickers promoting linguistic sensitivity.
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Bucak stressed that the initiative is part of the broader effort to ensure Kurdish remains a living language despite assimilation pressures. “A language that is not spoken in markets and public spaces is at risk of extinction. We are working to make Kurdish visible and usable in everyday life,” she said.
Despite government policies that restrict Kurdish-language education and the continued practice of appointing state trustees to replace elected Kurdish mayors, municipal efforts persist in revitalising linguistic and cultural heritage.
