The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission convened for the 6th and 7th times during the week. During the Commission meetings, former parliamentary presidents and bar association presidents were heard. Next week, the commission will hold a meeting on academics,

The commission will hear the opinions of business people and trade unions.

 

The Kurdish Research Association (Komeleya Lêkolînên Kurdî), which is among the organisations requested by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party to be heard by the commission, will present their demands regarding the Kurdish language if invited.

 

The association was founded by the employees and volunteers of the Istanbul Kurdish Institute, which was established on 18 April 1992, after the institute was shut down by a Decree Law (KHK) in 2016. Since its establishment, it has carried out many academic studies in the field of Kurdish.

 

DEMANDS OF THE ASSOCIATION

 

 

Remziye Alparslan emphasised that it would be important for them to be heard by the commission and stated that they would express the demands of Kurds in the field of language if they were called. Stating that for more than 30 years they have been working in the field of Kurdish, she said: "There is a memory here. We open courses and workshops to teach, develop and preserve the language. We produce and distribute materials in Kurdish."

 

Remziye Alparslan pointed out that all organisations conducting research on the Kurdish language were included in the list that the DEM Party wanted to be listened to: "We have connections with other Kurdish language organisations. These organisations always express their demands and wishes for the Kurdish language. They carry out studies in this direction. We will bring what all Kurdish language organisations want to say to the commission."

 

She added: "Kurdish language demands are clear; Kurdish language status, Kurdish education. Legal changes should be made. For example, Article 42 of the Constitution states that 'No language other than Turkish can be taught to Turkish citizens as their mother tongue in education and training institutions'. We demand a more democratic law to replace this. However, this is not something that will happen immediately. For the time being, amendments should be made to the existing laws. Because these laws are also an obstacle to granting rights. These laws are racist. They are based on Turkish identity and ignore all peoples. We demand the removal of these articles."

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AUTONOMY CONDITION

 

Remziye Alparslan stated that they advocate multilingualisation in areas such as health and education. "There are examples of this in the world. This is a process, it will progress step by step and mechanisms will be built. Kurdish and other languages should no longer be defined as 'unknown languages' in the Parliament. Local governments should be strengthened. Many activities can be realised through them. The European Charter of Local Self-Government should also be implemented here. The power of local administrations will increase and they will organise and regulate the activities within themselves."  

 

'MULTILINGUALISM MUST BE ACCEPTED' 

 

Remziye Alparslan emphasised the need to accept multilingualism, she concluded: "Health unions, education unions and Kurdish language institutions are working in these areas. It is enough to accept multilingualism. There should not be an approach of 'we can do whatever we want'. The organisations participating in the commission should be listened to. It should not be like 'we listened to everyone, it's over, let's continue the same'. If there is seriousness and sincerity in this process, it will be very good for everyone."

 

MA / Omer Ibrahimoğlu