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Turkish education ignores minoritised languages, cultures and religions, Minority Rights Group says

 
In a recently issued report the international organization speaks about “discrimination” in the classrooms and defines Turkish education as a system that promotes “assimilation” and Turkish nationalism, apart from denying education in languages other than Turkish · Many children belonging to minoritised communities do not even go to school · Ankara does not recognize Kurds, Assyrians, Gypsies, Lazs and Caucasians.

Minority Rights Group (MRG), an international NGO working for the rights of minoritised and minority ethnic, religious and linguistic communities, has just issued a monographic report entitled Forgotten or Assimilated? Minorities in the Education System of Turkey. The report, sponsorised by the European Union, deals with four central issues: the right to education in Turkey, language in the education system, teaching of religion and discrimination in text books and other teaching materials.

‘I am a Turk. My principle is [...] to love my country and my nation more than my soul. My ideal is to advance and go further. Dear Grand Atatürk, I take the oath to walk without stopping towards the target you have shown us, on the path that you have opened for us. [...] Happy is the person who says “I am Turk”.’ That is a piece of the oath read by students every morning in schools all across Turkey. According to the MRG report, that is only one example of how the Turkish education system ignores and discriminates students who have no Turkish origins or speak and profess different languages and religions.

Turkish education system –according to the report–, revolves around promotion of Turkish language, culture and nationalism, and disregards and bans any “minority” aspect even if, in some cases such as the Kurdish one, the “minority” population amounts to more than 20 million people.

As regards Kurds and Gypsies, discrimination goes beyond inequity. Policies of demolition of Gypsy neighborhoods have left thousands of families houseless, while the clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK in Northern Kurdistan have forced many Kurds to flee their native towns and villages. Too often, children belonging to displaced Kurdish and Gypsy communities cannot attend school due to lack of resources.

The report includes some recommendations such as the ratification by Turkey of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, protocol number 12 of the European Court of Human Rights and UNESCO’s Convention against Discrimination in Education.

The State recognizes Armenians, Jews and Greeks, but neglects Caucasians, Yezidis, Kurds, Lazs and Gypsies. As regards language, the State does not allow to use other languages than Turkish, thus ignoring Arabic, Kurdish, Laz and Armenian, among other languages.

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