“Kurdish language should be kept alive everywhere”

Elif Can Alkan, editor of the weekly Kurdish newspaper Xwebûn in Diyarbakır, called people to protect and keep alive the Kurdish language against assimilation policies while 60-year-old Nurê Aba says she faces difficulties in daily life because she cannot speak Turkish, adding, “We protect our language, our cause, and our rights.”

MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

News Center- The weekly Kurdish newspaper Xwebûn editor Elif Can Alkan talked about International Mother Language Day and she said that languages have been important for people since the beginning. Referring to how civilizations shape their lives and maintain their values through their languages, Elif Can Alkan stated that language is a lifestyle for her;

“Language is a lifestyle for people. Peoples also need a language to prove and show their existence in the world. Language is very important for even a small tribe. Language is a person’s identity in society. If you don’t have a language, then you don’t have an identity. Civilizations and countries have introduced themselves with their own languages throughout history. If a community doesn’t have a language, it doesn’t exist.”

“Kurdish language faces assimilation policies”

Expressing that the Kurdish language, an ancient language in Mesopotamia, has been passed down from generation to generation for years in written or oral form, Elif Can Alkan draw attention to the intense pressures against the Kurdish language facing assimilation policies. Elif Can Alkan thinks that people should turn their language into their lifestyle and should speak Kurdish in everywhere against oppressive policies.

“We can protect the Kurdish language by using and speak it everywhere. It is impossible to protect our language without turning it into our lifestyle and keeping speaking it. Turkey has been founded over annihilating other languages and people. This is why the pressure on the Kurdish language is too much.”

“We can protect our language by keeping it alive”

The ruling party has carried out a one-language policy in Turkey, said Elif Can Alkan, who thinks this is an assimilation policy.

“Kurdish language has been under pressure. The Kurdish language has been spoken by many people so the pressures on it continue. We can overcome these pressures by speaking Kurdish and keeping it alive. We should use the Kurdish language in writing, reading, and speaking. Only this way, we can stand against assimilation policies. If we cannot do these, it will be impossible for us to protect ourselves and our language against these policies. If we speak our language, we will protect ourselves and our values, but if we don’t, our language will be forgotten.”

“With Xwebûn, we resist”

Xwebûn is the only Kurdish newspaper being published weekly in Turkey. Elif Can Alkan called on people to support the newspaper:

“All Kurdish newspapers, schools, and courses were closed down in 2016. The increasing pressures at that time still continue. Today, we see that the Turkish state cannot tolerate even a Kurdish sign. Among these difficulties, we are trying to reach people with our own language. Our newspaper resists assimilation policies even though it is a weekly newspaper. We will keep writing and publishing as much as we can. We have alternatives if it is closed down. If it is closed down, we will keep writing our articles and share them on the internet or social media. We will continue to write in our language for our people.”

“We were told ‘don’t speak Kurdish’ in prison”

65-year-old Nurê Aba is from Diyarbakır and she is one of those who struggle throughout their lives to keep the Kurdish language alive… “My language is everything in my life, I exist with it,” Nurê Aba said she had learned her native language from her mother and she would teach her language to her children.

“We faced many difficulties to not speaking Turkish; we went to the hospital but couldn’t explain our problems, we went to the state institutions but we faced difficulties. We have suffered a lot to keep this language alive. I didn’t know even a single word in Turkish when I first moved to Diyarbakır city center. Years have passed but we still face the same difficulties. We suffered a lot and we still suffer. When we went to prisons to visit our relatives, we were told, ‘Don’t speak Kurdish’. We were asked to speak Turkish. We were told we couldn’t see our relatives if we didn’t speak Turkish.”

“They cannot make us forget Kurdish by imposing pressure on us”

Nurê Aba said that many organizations founded to keep the Kurdish language alive were closed down by the appointed trustee.

“The Turkish state does everything to make us forget our language. Trustees were appointed and the appointed trustees closed down all our organizations. I see Turkish and Arabic signs everywhere now. Millions of Kurds live in this region, but they accept neither us nor our language. They cannot make us forget our language in this way. Kurdish is spoken in the streets and at homes in all Kurdish cities. This language will be spoken.”

“Let's speak our language with our children”

Nurê Aba called on people to speak the Kurdish language with their children against repression policies and she said:

“We should keep speaking our language against these repression policies. Let’s teach the Kurdish language to our children, don’t speak Turkish with them. The children should know all languages but they shouldn’t forget their native language. Such an ancient and deep-rooted language should be spoken everywhere. We protect our language, our cause, and our rights.”