The preliminary report of the “Towards a solution in mother tongue education: Opportunities, obstacles, and recommendations” workshop was released. The event was organized by the Diyarbakır (Amed) branch of the Education and Science Workers Union (Eğitim-Sen) and lasted two days.

The report was presented by Eğitim-Sen Diyarbakır branch member Stran Jiyan.

A democratic right to education for all

Stran Jiyan stressed that education is a fundamental right that every individual holds simply by being human and emphasized that rights are only meaningful and valuable if they are accessible and usable. She pointed out that the approach of a centralized state structure, which ignores and seeks to eliminate diversity, creates significant barriers to the full and effective exercise of individuals’ right to education. “It is the state’s responsibility,” she said, “to ensure that individuals’ demands for education, learning, teaching, and self-fulfillment are met with guarantees provided by both local and universal legal frameworks. Providing a democratic right to education for all individuals and ensuring the realization of this right are among the primary duties of a democratic constitutional state.”

Stran Jiyan stated that Turkey’s political agenda, the international political context, the Kurdish people’s struggle, and domestic social needs have once again brought the possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue into discussion. She noted: “As a labor union and civil society organization, Eğitim-Sen has found it necessary to engage in a deep discussion, within its own sphere of advocacy, about how mother-tongue education can contribute to social peace. The comprehensive workshop, which brought together fields such as language, culture, literature, science, law, and politics, has provided assessments and recommendations on language rights that can shed light on this process. Over the two-day workshop, we identified key focus points of the issues. The focus groups we established on law (constitutional regulations), pedagogy, and global experiences, and the question of ‘what should our alternative democratic education model be?’—laid the groundwork for effectively discussing the challenges.”

1982 Constitution

Stran Jiyan explained: “In this context, it can be said that the Ottoman Empire’s partially decentralized structure had some effect on preserving the cultural identities of its peoples. However, from the 19th century onward, efforts to strengthen a centralized system subjected Kurds and other peoples to administrative and cultural oppression. With the 1924 Constitution, centralization became absolute, and the rights of all ethnic and religious communities were either denied outright or rendered impossible to exercise. The 1982 Constitution, a product of the September 12 coup, enshrined destruction and denial policies centered around Turkish nationalism as ‘unchangeable and even unchangeable by proposal’ clauses. In doing so, the discussion of rights for Kurds and other marginalized groups was effectively prohibited.”

Turkey places reservations on all agreements

Stran Jiyan recalled that debates about the right to education in one’s mother tongue emerged during Turkey’s European Union (EU) accession process in the 2000s. However, she noted that the state’s reservations regarding this right were never resolved. Jiyan said, “Turkey has introduced Kurdish language classes as electives in middle schools, ostensibly to address the right to education in one’s mother tongue and to avoid meaningful discussions on the subject. Yet, it has not even fulfilled the requirements of this measure. Turkey places reservations on, or outright refuses to implement, all international agreements that include the right or opportunity for education in one’s mother tongue.”

Revitalization of the language is necessary

Stran Jiyan emphasized that language is both a means of control and a political instrument for the state. She stated, “The lack of education in one’s mother tongue is a form of suppression with traumatic consequences for both individuals and society. Assimilationist practices that deny the mother tongue are akin to appointing a trustee over an individual’s mind. Those who are deprived of the right to education in their mother tongue are far more likely to leave the education system altogether. This, in turn, leads to being pushed out of public life and distancing from economic activities. A language removed from public space is destined to weaken and lose prestige. On the other hand, revitalizing a language within the public domain will restore its respect and status. It must be recognized that legally guaranteeing the right to education in one’s mother tongue is not, on its own, sufficient to end the assimilation process. For language rights to be genuinely protected, the language itself must be revitalized. For this reason, the Kurdish people must strongly defend their right to mother tongue education at every stage, make their language widely spoken, create environments in which it is actively used, and develop social values and tools for language use.”

Stran Jiyan said, “First and foremost, all social groups, must plan, initiate, and carry through the process of constructing their own mental frameworks and social existence.” She continued, “In the assimilation process, those who have a mother tongue other than the dominant language are made to feel that their own language and culture are inferior and lack value. While the Kurmanji dialect faces numerous challenges, the Kirmanckî dialect experiences these issues in an even more severe manner. Even naming the dialect is problematic, with four different terms in use. There are significant gaps in terms of media, publishing, and materials for using the dialect. A study on the demographic and geographic distribution of Kurdish dialects is needed. Kurdish must be considered as a whole with all its dialects, identifying the unique challenges each dialect faces and removing the barriers to revitalization. Inclusive and integrative measures must be implemented to ensure that all Kurdish dialects can be used as mediums of education.”

A women’s liberation perspective

Stran Jiyan stated that viewing the issue of mother tongue usage from the perspective of women’s liberation offers the most accurate historical and sociological insights. She said, “From this perspective,it becomes clear that, from the early years of the Republic, especially in boarding schools for girls, the aim was to alienate them from their mother tongue, thereby assimilating it. At the same time, this also targeted the assimilation of women’s culture rooted in their mother tongue. Instead of centralized, boarding, or transport-based education that imposes uniformity and seeks to erase mother tongues, educational spaces accessible to children and open to family participation should be established. The sexist ideology exalted by positivism, present in all areas of life, must be confronted and rejected within educational settings as well. In its place, relationships of free coexistence—where women and men live equally, freely, autonomously, harmoniously, and productively—should be the foundation. In this sense, the approach to mother tongue education and the perspective of women’s liberation fundamentally aim to integrate ecological, democratic, and women-liberationist dimensions into the learning process.”

A democratic education model

Stran Jiyan emphasized that the democratic education model should be designed in accordance with the principles of a democratic nation. She stated: “It is important that the definitions of centralized and democratic civilizations be made from this perspective. Education should be structured around concepts such as freedom of thought, the pursuit of truth, and self-awareness, with an approach that is liberatory, ecological, and gender-equality-oriented.  A gender-egalitarian, democratic, mother-tongue-based education model must include the participation of students in decision-making processes, the establishment of community-driven academies, and the formation of autonomous education councils. Additionally, teachers should be equipped with a democratic civilization perspective within this democratic education model.

In conclusion, to ensure that the right to mother-tongue education is equally accessible to all citizens, a new constitutional drafting process must be initiated to secure these rights within the law. The constitution should embody a consensus that reflects the collective spirit of all segments of society, providing a genuine guarantee. Therefore, the state mechanism, as one of the main actors in drafting the new constitution, must overcome its fear that mother-tongue education could lead to fragmentation or division.’’