content tagged with minority languages

The Istanbul Yaşam Radio presented the variety of its programs at a cocktail organized to make the radio staff meet with listeners and the media. Yaşam Radio broadcasts in Turkish and in minority languages and stands for a democratic initiative which includes the Kurds, Armenians and Alevis.

According to Laz expert Sapan, the language is at a critical point where it may be lost. The government is also to blaim for assimilation policies.

Kurdish speaker Canan wants his children to grow up speaking Kurdish. Teachers are disillusioned with Turkish education system in Kurdish-majority Hakkari.

The Greek population is dwindling, and the Armenian and Ladino languages have also suffered from assimilation policies over the last decades. New generations may not speak the languages of their grandparents anymore.

More than half of the 6,700 languages of the world are under threat in the long term. UNESCO says, “Language is very important as a carrier of identity for groups and individuals.”