'Civil disobedience': Author Mahmut Alınak offers Kurdish education at his house

Having turned his garage into a classroom, Alınak says the intellectuals have the duty to make the state take action for mother tongue education.

İstanbul

'Civil disobedience': Author Mahmut Alınak offers Kurdish education at his house

Photo: Yeni Yaşam

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The Kurdish politician and author Mahmut Alınak has transformed the garage of his house in the Mewreg village of the Digor district of the eastern Kars province into a school in order to offer Kurdish education to children.

"We will embrace our language"

Speaking to bianet about the classes where he uses the wall of the garage as a blackboard and a piece of coal as a chalk, Alınak said, "I began this act of civil disobedience because the Kurds have been demanding mother tongue education for 100 years; but the state insists on turning a blind eye to them. The state has not taken even a single step regarding education in Kurdish.

"That being the case, it is unthinkable for us, the intellectuals, to do nothing about this. The duty of the intellectuals is to stand against racist policies despite all bans and states. The intellectuals have a historical duty to make the state take a step in such an important issue like education in the mother tongue.

"If the state does not take a step or insists on keeping a distance from rights and freedoms, then we take action. I'll continue my action to teach children in Kurdish."

"Our pen is this piece of coal"

Sharing a video on his social media account, Alınak said, "Today is a new day in the history of our village. I have converted the garage of my house to a school. Our blackboard is the wall of the garage. Our marker pen is this piece of coal.

"You should know that language is the existence of a nation. If there is no language, then that nation does not exist. Kurdish and the languages of the oppressed nations are subdued by the state. We don't accept this.

"For a hundred years, we have been saying, 'Give freedom to our language.' But they don't. Then we will take care of ourselves. We are the solution, our nation is the solution, you are the solution. I'm calling out to all my brothers and sisters, our intellectuals and our nation: Let's embrace our language."

Köyümün tarihinde bugün bir ilk gerçekleşti. Devletin yüz yıllık yasağına karşı sivil itaatsizlik eylemi yaptık. Ben ve öğrencilerim evimde Kürdçe eğitimin Keyfini yaşadık. pic.twitter.com/VkUKPpUh1D
— Mahmut Alınak (@mahmutalinak) July 20, 2022

About Mahmut Alınak

Legist, lawyer, politician, former MP and writer.

Nominated by the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP), Alınak was elected as an MP in the parliamentary elections in 1987 and 1991. He also served as Democratic Society Party (DTP) provincial chairperson in Kars.

He was remanded in custody during the investigation against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in December 2011. He was released in July 2012. He was sentenced to 14 months and 7 days in prison for his statements on torture. Although he was released on probation, he was put in prison in September 2014 for violating the probation conditions. He wrote 10 books.

(TY/VK)