ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A number of Turks are attending a Kurdish language course in Ankara, arranged by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), in a move that comes in the wake of an ongoing campaign in the country to encourage Kurdish parents to register their children to Kurdish elective lessons.
The course, which began a week ago, is taught at one of the pro-Kurdish HDP’s offices in Ankara. It is rare to see Turks attending Kurdish language courses in Turkey, especially in the capital city of Ankara.
Murat Kayatas, who teaches the students, told Rudaw’s Shawkat Harki on Wednesday that there is high demand for the course.
“We began the course a week ago. Seventeen people registered their names but because they are busy with their work only about 13 attended the course. However, about 30 people attend the course on the weekend. The demand is high, something we did not expect,” he said.
At least four Turks, aged between 12-60, attend the course. Alican is the youngest among them. His mother is Kurdish and this has encouraged him to seek Kurdish courses.
“We have learned the alphabet so far. Inshallah we will learn more,” he said. “I want to speak fluently in Kurdish,” he added.
Ercan Ozben, 60, is from Yozgat - a Turkish province located in the Central Anatolia Region which is mostly populated by nationalist Turks. Many Kurds have even avoided travelling to Yozgat, fearing they could be attacked by the nationalists.
“Turks and other nations should learn Kurdish. I could not speak Kurdish and saw it as a duty to attend this Kurdish course. I used to attend Kurdish weddings but could not communicate with them. I saw this as a shortcoming and decided to learn,” said Ozben.
He said he has so far learnt the basics, he added.
Kurdish language has been silenced in modern Turkey since its foundation in 1923, due to the oppressive assimilation policies of successive governments and Kurdish parties. A 2019 study shows that only a small size of Turkey’s Kurdish population can speak in their mother tongue.
Turkey’s 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 when at least ten students register for. Lessons are provided in both dialects of Kurdish language: Kurmanji and Zazaki. The deadline for registration was January 21 but it was later extended to February 7.
Kurdish political parties, language promotion institutions and academics as well as social media users have recently campaigned for elective lessons in Kurdish in Turkey through media outlets, social media platforms and brochures. The hashtag #KurdîHilbijêre (select Kurdish) has been trending on Twitter for weeks.
Officials from Turkey’s ruling and opposition parties have voiced their support for the campaign, with Ahmet Davutoglu, former prime minister and leader of the newly-founded Future Party calling on the country's population to learn Kurdish.
