Derik residents: we will not accept marginalization of our mother tongue

Reactions condemning the Syrian Ministry of Education’s recent decision to allocate three weekly classes to the Kurdish language, as well as the justifications it put forward for preventing the teaching of the curriculum in Kurdish, continue to mount. In this context, residents of the city of Derik in the Jazira region spoke to ANHA's agency.

Citizen Murad Ali affirmed the legitimate right to education in one’s mother tongue, saying: “We demand that the curriculum be taught in Kurdish. This is our natural right, which we achieved after a long revolution of resistance and sacrifices. We will not accept limiting it to only three classes, and our children must continue receiving their education in their primary language.”

For her part, citizen Raghida Khalil noted that this decision does not meet the aspirations of generations who have been educated in their mother tongue. She said: “Allocating only three classes is an injustice to our children, who have been studying in Kurdish for years. This decision has provoked rejecting reactions among the public. We will not accept erasing the sacrifices of our martyrs.”

She added: “Our fundamental demand is for Kurdish to be an official language, exactly like Arabic, and for it to have an equal number of instructional hours. We will not send our children to schools until the Kurdish language is recognized and made official, because this decision negatively affects their future. Giving up our language means giving up our existence, and we will continue the struggle for it.”

In a related context, citizen Jiwan Hassan pointed to the political dimensions and the agreements that have been concluded, saying: “At a time when the region is going through a sensitive phase, and following the January 29 agreement, which stipulated the protection of the distinctiveness of our areas, we were surprised by the issuance of the Syrian Ministry of Education’s decision. We will not accept this decision and will take a firm stance against it, especially since our children have received their education in Kurdish for many years.”

Hassan concluded his remarks by saying: “Protecting our areas begins with protecting our language, and we will not retreat from continuing to educate our children in it.

ANHA