Millions of Kurdish people live in the north of Kurdistan and Türkiye and speak Kurdish (kurmanji, zazaki). When we look at the statue of the Kurdish language in Türkiye, it can be seen that Kurdish language is under assimilation and pressure policies. Although there is no official obstacle for the Kurdish language, it can be seen that the Kurdish culture, language, activities and programmes are arbitrarily blocked and banned.
Due to this situation of Kurdish language, speaking Kurdish in public decreases day by day.
There is no official support for the Kurdish language. Only a few universities have Kurdish departments and there are some academic works on Kurdish language and culture in a few institutes. Furthermore, work and protection of Kurdish language are imposed on some civil institutions and persons.
Waar Tv presenter Gernas Nenas asks who speaks Kurdish more, women or men, while talking to citizens on the streets of Diyarbakır.
The men who responded to the presenter didn’t say that women speak more Kurdish, but there are some women who say that men speak more Kurdish. Most of the participants say that men speak more Kurdish.
In that programme, the director of the Kurdish Study Centre (KSC), Reha Ruhavioğlu shared his knowledge on the subject:
In the North and Türkiye, three out of ten people know Kurdish well. The closer you get to Turkey, the less Kurdish is spoken. Whenever generations are younger, speaking Kurdish decreases. Speaking Kurdish of women is less than men with 2-3 points. The assimilation of women and men are different so this affects them.
Of course, there are many different parameters and reasons why a person speaks or does not speak their native language.
According to research by the Kurdish Barometer in Türkiye, Kurds’ requests vary. But the most common demand is the education of the Kurdish language. More than 180 Kurds want the Kurdish language to be included in the education system. Majority of them say that there should be Kurdish and Turkish education.
In his article, Reha Ruhavioğlu makes three observations about the situation of the Kurdish language:
One, the language is rapidly weakening. Secondly, the most common and important demand of Kurds is language, they want their language to have a status and especially to be included in the education system. Thirdly, there are elective Kurdish language lessons in the education system but they do not receive attention in spite of their importance.
The Socio-Political Field Study Centre conducted a field study between 27 October and 3 November 2023. The study was on The Using of Native Language and Demand and Tendency of Native Language. This study was conducted in the North of Kurdistan.
According to the survey data, %86 percent of the participants want to receive education in their native language.
The situation of the Kurdish language in private companies, such as colleges and classrooms, isn’t better, different and purer than the official ones. There is no classroom or college that gives Kurdish education in Diyarbakır.
Kurdish language lessons have been offered to grades 5-6-7-8 since 2012-2013 under the MEB’s roof. Although teachers are officially appointed, very few (2-3), which is low compared to the rate and demand.
There are so many colleges and classrooms that don’t give Kurdish education in Diyarbakır (according to current information and knowledge). There’s no official obstacle to Kurdish education in the MEB Special Education Regulation. However Kurdish language is not preferred by the college and classroom regulation for political, demand and economic, marketing reasons.
Resul Geyik, who is one of the owners of these private classrooms that under the MEB’s roof, says the following about colleges and classrooms that don’t teach Kurdish:
All things considered, perhaps the government doesn’t want to provide official Kurdish education.
Geyik considers that people say that Kurdish doesn’t make money and you can’t study Kurdish professionally because Kurdish is spoken at home. Based on this explanation, Geyik gives the example of leaving the country to show that language is one of the main means by which people move from one country to another.
This news was translated by Betül Demir
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