February twenty-first is International Mother Language Day! The day was established by UNESCO in 1999 and is celebrated yearly to highlight the right to know your mother tongue. All children have the right to grow up with – and speak – their mother tongue, regardless of where they live.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child clarifies that children belonging to an ethnic, religious, linguistic minority or indigenous population shall not be denied their right to have their own cultural life, practice their religion and use their language. In Turkey, the Kurdish language has permanently been banned. Turkey is one of the 196 states that have signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Nevertheless, the Kurdish language is not recognized and may not be used in the Compulsory Education System. The Kurdish people demand that the Kurdish language be recognized as an official language in Turkey and that education in Kurdish must take place within the educational and administrative system, be part of its cultural expression, and be visible in all official areas.
Before International Mother Language Day this year, we call on all democratic forces, politicians and parliamentarians to sign exceptional support for the Kurdish people’s existence and right to education in Kurdish so that the Kurdish language will be recognized as an official language in Turkey. We demand that the UN impose requirements on Turkey to comply with the Children’s Convention that Turkey has signed and to recognize the Kurdish language as an official language in Turkey.
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
Kurdish Diaspora Confederation
21st February 2023
