RONİDA HACİ

Hesekê – Mother language is the most important indicator of the existence, identity, and culture of every community. Communities exist with their languages. The communities without a language have difficulties continuing their existence as a community. 21 February was declared to be the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO in 1999. Since then, 21 February has been globally celebrated as International Mother Language Day. However, due to the policies of assimilation and the monist system of the sovereign states, communities and minorities have to speak the languages of sovereign states. For example, Turkish is the official language in Turkey while Arabic is the official language in Syria. This monist system caused many languages to go extinct and it continues to cause. Armenian is one of the endangered languages in Syria.

“The revolution in Rojava is against the concept of one nation”

After the revolution in Rojava, all people living in NE Syria refused the monist system, one flag, one language, one nation, and chose to have the system of Democratic Nation proposed by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. They have their own identity under the umbrella of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. They live together by building a multinational, multilingual system instead of the monist system.

“Genocide was committed against Armenians”

Pointing out the genocide against Armenians, Aroş Berbiriyan said, “The Genocide affected the language, culture, and history of Armenians. About 106 years ago, the Ottoman Empire carried out the Seyfo massacre against the Armenian people. This massacre caused the culture, language, and history of the Armenian people to disappear. The monist system also caused the language of the Armenian people to disappear because speaking any language other than the official language of sovereign states was forbidden.”

“All peoples in NE Syria take historic steps”

Aroş Berbiyan thanked the Autonomous Administration for giving people the opportunity to keep their language, culture, and history alive. “All peoples living in the region stand on their own legs once again under the umbrella of the Autonomous Administration. We are happy with the establishment of the Armenian Assembly to revive our language, culture, and history. There are many committees of the assembly. We taught the Armenian language to young Armenian men and women. They are ready to teach our language now. The Autonomous Administration asked us to have a group of Armenian teachers officially teach in schools in 2022. All peoples in NE Syria take historic steps thanks to the autonomous administration,” she said.

“Protect the values of the revolution”

Losin Erdmiyan is an Armenian teacher in NE Syria. “Language defines a person's identity. Therefore, protecting the mother language means protecting the values of the revolution. The establishment of the Armenian Assembly is an achievement of the revolution. Children and young people learn their mother language thanks to this assembly. Now, we have 50 students and 15 teachers. We were deprived of our right to education in our mother language for years but we will not allow our children to be deprived of their right to education in their mother language. People should know their history in order to build a free future,” she said.

Losin Erdmiyan also called on all peoples in NE Syria to protect their mother language and the values of the revolution.