After Abdullah Öcalan’s “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society” on February 27, the process has continued with significant developments. Alongside this process, public calls for legal regulations guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms have grown stronger, with education in the mother tongue emerging as one of the main demands.
Eğitim-Sen Diyarbakır (Amed) Branch No. 1 Secretary Sinan Gündüz told ANF: “As a Kurd, I was forced to learn Turkish at the age of seven. A language you never knew, never heard, and had no familiarity with was imposed on you. You suddenly find yourself facing a concrete situation to which you are completely foreign.
When this language is taught to you, it is not taught merely as a language; it denies everything that belongs to you. It attempts to teach you a new language by disregarding your culture, your language, your history, your personality, everything that defines you. Therefore, what is being taught is not just a language; it becomes an instrument to strip you of your identity and erase your existence. And this is done through coercion and force.”
Gündüz added: “Language is not merely something that comes out through the vocal cords. When we speak of language, we actually refer to the entirety of a person’s world. For example, when I think back to my primary school years, I still feel hatred toward that experience because it took something essential from me. And this is not something that happens only in primary school; it continues throughout the entire education system. It is a situation that affects your entire life, damaging your mental and spiritual world.
Therefore, for Kurds, education in the mother tongue is not merely a right but a reason for existence. The right to education in one’s mother tongue is a matter of being or not being.”
The State must abandon its monist mentality
Sinan Gündüz emphasized that the state must abandon its monist mentality and said: “What has the system been telling us since the founding of the Republic? ‘One nation, one language, one state, one culture, one identity.’ But I exist, as an individual, as a culture, and as a language. This constant imposition is precisely what has brought us to the current point in the struggle for language. The destruction of your language actually means the destruction of your very being. That is why we see our mother tongue as a reason for existence.
We do not believe that any discussion focused solely on consequences, without addressing the underlying causes, can be truly meaningful. Therefore, what the state must do is to enact a legal provision such as: ‘Everyone should receive education in their mother tongue.’ As a union, we are fighting for this to happen. What needs to be done is clear: the state must abandon this policy of monism, take a step toward a democratic environment, and amend its laws accordingly.”
The mother tongue must be used in all areas of life
Gündüz underlined that the right to education in one’s mother tongue is among the most fundamental rights and said: “The state’s greatest fear has always been based on the idea of division. But when you look at the demands of the Kurdish Freedom Movement today, there is no such demand for division. On the contrary, what we demand is the ability to live together. There is an understanding built on erasing different colors, while what we want is an environment where all colors can coexist freely. This is our fundamental demand.
Kurds will never give up on this demand. We are not only calling for education in the mother tongue; education alone is not enough. The mother tongue must be used in all areas of life, and a legal framework must be established to ensure this.”