DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Education in their mother tongue is a pivotal demand of Turkey’s Kurds, and peace talks between Ankara and rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan have raised hopes that it will materialize after decades of repression.
The government has so far given the cold shoulder to the demand, even though it has introduced Kurdish as an elective course in schools and launched university programs to train Kurdish language teachers. Many in Ankara worry that recognizing Kurdish as a language of education will broaden Turkey’s ethnic rift and play into the hands of separatists.
