ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of students have chosen the Kurdish language as an elective course in Turkey following an extensive campaign in the country, the Turkish education minister revealed on Sunday following a request from a lawmaker of the Republican People's Party (CHP).
"On February 2, 2022, we asked Mahmut Ozer, Turkey's education minister, to find out the number of students who had registered for Kurdish language classes," said MP Sezgin Tanrikulu. "The minister responded to us on February 17 and revealed the number."
Ozer revealed that a total of 20,256 students had chosen to take Kurdish language classes, with students ranging from grades five to eight registering for classes in both dialects of the Kurdish language: Kurmanji and Zazaki.
Kurdish political parties, institutions, and academics have recently campaigned for Kurdish elective lessons in Turkey through media outlets and social media platforms. In January, the hashtag #KurdîHilbijêre (select Kurdish) was trending on Twitter in the country for weeks.
In the Turkish capital of Ankara, a number of Turks attended a Kurdish language course last month, after the promotion of the campaign yielded positive gains.
According to Turkey's education system, Kurds are allowed to study in their mother tongue at school for a few hours a week through elective courses which can only be opened should at least ten students register for the classes.
Statistics from the Turkish Ministry of Education show that 77,931 students registered for Kurdish language classes in the country in the 2015-2016 academic year, with 71,616 students choosing the Kurmanji dialect and the remaining number choosing Zazaki.
A 2019 study showed that only a small portion of Turkey's Kurdish population possessed the ability to speak the language.
