Kurdish lessons introduced by the Istanbul Kurdish Institute draw considerable interest from students. The Institute has a capacity of 600 course attendees and plans to increase it in the coming days for the autumn term.
Eyyüp Subaşı from the Istanbul Kurdish Institute said that the high interest in learning and developing Kurdish has a clear message that the Kurdish people will protect their language at all costs.
The Istanbul Kurdish Institute announced its online course application on its social media accounts due to the coronavirus epidemic. Over 600 applications have been received in the few hours since the announcement.
Eyyüp Subaşı from the Institute spoke to the ANF about the increase in the application despite the pressure on Kurdish.
Subaşı maintained that the registrations are restricted to 600 people in order to ensure that the lessons are carried out properly, but they would start to receive new registrations in the coming weeks. Subaşı added that, “We were having trouble reaching more people because our Kurdish learning and development courses were more held in association’s center before the epidemic. Since the courses we are currently conducting are online, there are applications from many cities and countries ”.
Subaşı stated that despite the prohibition of the Kurdish theater and the increasing pressure on Kurdish, this intense demand stems from the Kurdish people's desire to receive education in their own language.
“Deep interest in Kurdish learning and development courses indicates this desire. Although the state's attempts and policies to criminalize the Kurdish language and culture continue, the Kurdish people, as always, protect their own language and culture. The recent hostility towards Kurdish has revealed the state’s crackdown on the Kurdish people. High interest in learning and developing Kurdish is a clear message that the Kurdish people will protect their language at all costs. "
