Mother Language is a Right, Happy International Mother Language Day to All Peoples!
21 February 2024
The mother tongue is the language that is naturally learned from the social environment in which the individual is born, without any external learning effort, used in the daily life of the community into which they are born, socialize, and experience artistic and cultural values. In this respect, the right to mother language is both an individual right and a collective right of the community to which one belongs.
Today, around 7,000 mother languages are spoken in the world while 2,500 of them are facing extinction. In an effort to draw attention to this risk, UNESCO declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day on 17 November 1999 and since 2000 it has been celebrated as the “International Mother Language Day” to promote cultural diversity and multilingualism in the world.
Languages continue to disappear and many languages are under threat on the 24th anniversary of International Mother Language Day. Languages that are disappearing and under threat are the languages of communities belonging to minority groups and the languages of non-state communities. The mother tongue is the language in which community members socialize, interact, and continue their development most easily. Therefore, recognizing the right to education in the mother language is a fundamental human right in this context. Communities that have the right to education in their mother languages will have more development in every sense and this will eliminate inequality between communities. Moreover, all studies show that children who are educated in their mother languages are more successful pedagogically.
However, the languages of sovereign nations are made compulsory for other communities due to the assimilationist policies of nation-states in the world. Yet, the mother language is the most important transmitter and indicator of the existence, identity, and culture of societies. Communities exist with their languages. It is very difficult for communities without language to continue their existence as a community. All extinct, endangered, and spoken languages in the world are a common value of the human world and human history. Singularist and assimilationist policies and instruments of coercion on languages must be abolished. It must be ensured that peoples are able to speak in their own languages, receive education, and continue their lives and cultures. Linguistic and cultural pluralism will enable societies to live together in peace and freedom.
The situation in Turkey regarding the use of mother languages other than Turkish is even more dire than the one in the world. Although it is known that 36 different languages are spoken in daily life in Turkey, according to UNESCO, 3 languages have been lost and 18 languages are in danger of being lost. Although there are many languages in Turkey, some languages other than Turkish can be taught as elective courses starting from the 5th grade within the scope of the circular on elective courses issued in 2012. Forcing a child to break away from the language they learned from their families until the 5th grade and to access science, art, culture, and education by learning the official language is both a violation of children’s rights and pedagogically means the fragmentation of the child’s psychological, social and emotional world. The right to have different languages and dialects taught as elective courses is not only inadequate but it has been made almost impossible to elect and learn these languages at school. Even this right cannot be exercised due to difficulties such as a shortage of appointed teachers, at least 10 students in a class having to elect a course, lack of educational tools and materials and textbooks, and children being directed to courses that administrations deem appropriate, mostly religious courses, without informing children and parents during the course selection periods. In addition, the fear of discrimination and social exclusion also deters families and children from demanding education in their mother languages.
One of the most fundamental means of progress for the resolution of the “Kurdish issue,” which is one of the most fundamental problems of Turkey awaiting resolution, and for the establishment of peace and reconciliation is undoubtedly the removal of obstacles to the use of Kurdish language and dialects. The TRT 6 channel, which started broadcasting in Kurdish in 2009 without any legal guarantees, and the elective courses launched in 2012 are far from meeting the mother language demands of millions of Kurdish citizens. The use of the Kurdish language in all spheres of life is subject to serious restrictions and pressures, while local administrative authorities ban cultural events such as plays, films, concerts and similar events in Kurdish without even providing any grounds.
Universal international documents set forth that it is the obligation of states to ensure that every child learns freely the language in which they communicate with the world without any education from the moment they are born and that they are able to participate in all social processes in their mother languages.
Turkey must immediately remove the reservations it has made to Articles 17, 29 and 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as to the universal human rights instruments to which it is a party, which allow for the teaching and survival of different languages, cultures and belief values. To ensure an equal and liberal environment in the field of education for every child, the UNESCO “Convention against Discrimination in Education” must be ratified and its requirements must be fulfilled.
The Human Rights Association celebrates World Mother Language Day and demands that the most natural human right of every individual to receive education and communicate with the world in their mother language be realized immediately.
May February 21 World Mother Language Day be the Day of Freedom for All Languages!
21 Şubat Dünya Anadil Günü Tüm Dillere Özgürlük Günü Olsun!
21ê Sibatê Roja Zimanê Zikmakî ya Cihanê Li Hemî Zimanan Pîroz Be!
Human Rights Association