Mother of six Þeriban Kurnazoðlu, who earns her life by babysitting in Serik/Antalya, was dismissed for watching TRT 6 (A Kurdish TV Channel in Turkey).

Moving from Midyat county of Mardin to Antalya 17 years ago, Þeriban Kurnazoðlu became disabled with her leg during an accident in 2003. She then started to babysit to make an economic contribution to the family, while her children were working in orange gardens. Kurnazoðlu experienced an interesting event last week while she had been working as a babysitter for a family for two years.

Kurnazoðlu told ANF her experience as follows; “We have been living away from our own language and culture for 17 years. I didn’t know even a word Turkish when I came to Antalya. However, the struggle for life imposed Turkish on me”.

After being disabled on my leg, with the guidance of a neighbor, I started to make babysitting for a family that dismissed me for watching a TV channel in my language. One day, I was watching TRT 6 when the parents of the family came home. The father of the child I sit came to me and shouted; “Here is Turkey and you are at my home. Here, you are poisoning my child against Turkish people by watching Kurdish channels”. He said to me; “I can’t trust on you for my child under these circumstances. Don’t come here again”.



Translation: Berna Ozgencil