Bawer Berşev, an activist from the Network of Kurdish Language and Culture, announced that it intends to launch a social media campaign on International Mother Language Day (21 February) in order to obtain a million signatures for its online petition calling for the right to “education in the mother language”.
The online petition campaign is being organised by numerous Kurdish organisations and language groups around the world, Mesopotamia Agency reports. “We will send all the signatures we collect to the Turkish Assembly and to all other authorities in order to enable these demands of people for education in their mother language to be heard by the authorities”, Berşev said.
Campaign to last from 21 February to 15 May
“The campaign will be organised on a national level in Turkey and this is the first time such a campaign for education in the mother language has been organised on this scale. We see the language problem as a crucial one that needs to be immediately solved. As long as we cannot achieve education in the mother language, we will miss many opportunities”, Berşev said. “We will launch the campaign on 21 February and the campaign will last until 15 May, Kurdish Language Day”.
A ‘million signatures’ campaign
Berşev noted that within this time frame of preparation for the “education in mother language” campaign, the Network of Kurdish Language and Culture looks to reach out to Kurdish groups and organisations who may support and be a part of this joint campaign. “We are trying to find and reach other Kurdish organisations in order to invite them to join this campaign. We aim to get at least a million signatures”.
Berşev appealed to the Kurdish community and all peoples around the world to extend their solidarity to this campaign, noting that a main concern in the Kurdish people’s struggle is to have the right to education in the mother language.
