Kurdish Language Panel Emphasizes on Assimilation Politics

According to Yüksekova Haber website, KURDİ-DER association organized a panel in Yüksekova, a district in the far southeastern Turkey, with sessions of Kurdish author İhsan Colemêrgi and linguist Nazım Olçek on Kurdish language, literature and history.

Many local politicians including Rüstem Demir and Tacettin Safalı, as well as NGO representatives from different organizations and Yüksekova residents attended the panel.

"We'll try to let everyone know the social, linguistic and historical background of Kurdish people. Therefore, we'll have more panels with researchers on Kurdish studies," said Arife Kutlar from KURDİ-DER association.

Researcher and historian İhsan Colemêrgî reminded the assimilation politics towards Kurdish people through Turkish language formation, military service and denial of Kurdish entity. "Instead of waiting for others to write our history, Kurdish people should learn and write their history on their own."

Linguist Nezir Öcek, on the other hand, emphasized on how Kurdish people preserved their language despite the assimilation politics. "Every administration Kurdish have seen employed assimilation politics towards them. But they were not able to assimilate Kurdish people. The biggest risk lies in the auto-assimilation of Kurdish people per se. There are many Kurdish scientists and historians in the world history." (BK/HK)