The Kurdish Language Platform has pledged to continue its struggle until Kurdish is recognised as an official language in Turkey, highlighting the ongoing assimilation faced by Kurdish children in the country’s education system.
At a meeting on Friday in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast Diyarbakır (Amed), Kurdish Language Platform spokesperson Şerefxan Cizîrî criticised the lack of Kurdish-language education for children in “Northern Kurdistan”, (Kurdish regions in Turkey) describing it as “cruel, inhumane and against child rights and pedagogical principles”.
Cizîrî argued that Turkey’s official ideology has consistently placed obstacles in the way of Kurdish-language education, with even the smallest reforms being blocked. “Even the deaf can hear, and the blind can see this reality,” he stated.
Cizîrî emphasised that Kurdish language rights are non-negotiable and called for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the establishment of a Kurdish Language Institute, and the recognition of Kurdish as an official language. “The denial and assimilation of Kurdish identity must end,” he said. “Kurdish language rights are the key to the freedom and equality of the Kurdish people.”
The platform also called on politicians, intellectuals, and the public to speak, write and live in Kurdish, asserting that the language’s status is essential to the Kurdish people’s existence and dignity. “Until Kurdish is recognised as an official language and education language, our struggle for language rights will continue,” Cizîrî concluded.
