Zirkan, Hasakah residents demand official recognition of Kurdish

The cities of Hasakah and Zirkan held two separate events on Wednesday in protest against the Transitional Government’s Ministry of Education decision to reduce Kurdish language instruction to three classes per week, with calls to amend the decision and ensure the right to education in the mother tongue.

In Hasakah, the Teacher Training Institute organized an artistic event attended by dozens of male and female teachers. Participants held up banners bearing Kurdish-language slogans, including “Kurdish is our identity,” “Kurdish is history,” “Language is culture,” and “There is no life without language.”

The event began with holding a minute of silence, followed by performances by the Teacher Training Institute’s artistic troupe, including a number of Kurdish songs highlighting the importance and status of the Kurdish language.

The event concluded with chants emphasizing and celebrating the importance of the Kurdish language.

In the city of Zirkan, hundreds of residents took part in a protest rejecting the decision to limit Kurdish language instruction to three classes per week and calling on the Ministry of Education to amend the decision.

The protest began in front of the Women’s Bakery, with participants holding banners bearing slogans including “Our language is our identity,” “I want nothing but the Kurdish language,” and “Education in the mother tongue is a legitimate right.” They also chanted slogans reaffirming their commitment to the Kurdish language and rejecting the Ministry of Education’s decision to reduce the hours allocated to its instruction.

When the protest reached the Martyr Dejwar Roundabout, participants held a minute of silence in tribute to the souls of the martyrs. Reha Hajj Ali, an administrator at the Zirgan Education Complex, then delivered a speech stressing that education in the mother tongue is a legitimate and natural right.

Hajj Ali called on the Transitional Gdovernment’s Ministry of Education to amend the decision concerning the Kurdish language, stressing that teaching it for three classes per week is insufficient and does not enable students to continue their preparatory and secondary education in their mother tongue.

She emphasized that the Kurdish language is not merely a tool for everyday communication, but a fundamental component of a historical identity deeply rooted in the civilizations of the Middle East.

The protest concluded with chants rejecting the denial of the Kurdish language and the reduction of Kurdish language instruction.

ANHA

ZIRGAN

HESEKÊ