The People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Van Provincial Organization, together with 24 institutions, held a press statement on Monday within the context of the activities for 21 February, International Mother Language Day. The organization marched to the Language Culture and Art Research Center (ARSİSA) building.

'The oldest language of humanity'

DEM Party Language and Culture Commission co-spokesperson Hemid Dilbihar said that many languages are currently at risk of assimilation and underlined that one of these languages is Kurdish. Dilbihar said: "World Mother Language Day celebrates the equality of all languages. But unfortunately, the status and future of many languages are still uncertain today. They are threatened with assimilation and extinction. Today, there are languages such as Syriac, Laz, Bosnian, Hemsin, Circassian, Armenian, Romanian and Arabic in Anatolia. One of the endangered languages is the Kurdish language, spoken by tens of millions of Kurds. The Kurdish language is the oldest and richest language of humanity."

Dilbihar said: "The Kurdish language is the soul, mind and body of the Kurds. The Kurdish language is the backbone of the unity of the Kurdish nation. Without language, there are no Kurds or Kurdistan. Kurds and Kurdistan are one and cannot be separated. One cannot exist without the other. The freedom of the Kurdish language is also the freedom of Kurds and Kurdistan. Kurds continue their struggle to protect, revitalize and develop their language. The Kurdish language has the same fundamental rights as English, German, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and all other languages. Millions of Kurds and all Kurdish movements, parties, institutions, organizations and circles must unite for the freedom of their language."

Requests

Saying that they will continue their struggle until Kurdish is accepted as the official language, Dilbihar listed their demands as follows:

"We want the Kurdish language in every field, and we are fighting for it. This struggle will continue.

Our demands and goals for the Kurdish language are very clear and concrete:

-The Kurdish language should have an official and international status;

-Must be officially accepted by constitutional and international laws;

-Kurdish should be the language of education;

-Kurdish should be used in places such as parliament, governorships, municipalities, courts and hospitals:

-The Kurdish Language Institute should be officially recognized and operated by representatives of the Kurdish people.

-If there are opportunities for Turkish, there should also be opportunities for Kurdish.”