A 'Salvation' Prescription from the Turkish Nation!..

Language means nation. And nation means sovereignty and independence. That is why Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, “Do you know why we lost the Balkans? There is only one reason for this, and that is the language institutions established by Slavic research societies. When they awakened the national consciousness of the people within us, we retreated to the borders of Thrace in the Balkans.”

One of the important characteristics of Sultan Abdulhamid, whom the AKP government takes as an example, was his sensitivity regarding the Turkish language. It is said that he gave some special instructions for this reason. For example, seeing that European states, which made learning their own languages mandatory not only in their own countries but also in the places they occupied, were engaged in activities to spread their languages in Ottoman lands, he sent a circular to Minister of Education Zühtü Pasha in 1894; he ordered that “care should be taken to teach Turkish well to Turkish children in schools, and that the Turkish spoken in the common language should be used instead of Arabic and Persian words,” and likewise, it is reported that he gave instructions that “Turkish lessons should be taken seriously in Christian schools as well, and that schools that do not teach Turkish to their students should be closed.”

Yes, the Republic of Turkey is a unitary and national state. The first condition of being a national state is linguistic unity. For this reason, the provision that “The language of the State of Turkey is Turkish” is included among the first three articles of the Constitution, which are “immutable and cannot be proposed to be changed,” and Article 42 states, “No language other than Turkish shall be taught as the mother tongue to Turkish citizens in any educational and training institutions.”

ERDOĞAN AND BAHÇELİ'S PERSPECTIVE

Let us also look at the approaches of Erdoğan and his partner Bahçeli regarding the language issue.

The “Kurdish report” that Erdoğan had prepared in the 1990s included the following suggestions:

“All laws that prevent the recognition of Kurdish identity and the development of Kurdish culture in Turkey should be abolished. Legal opportunities should be provided for the teaching of Kurdish in regions where Kurds live. All these rights should also be granted to other peoples living in Turkey (Laz, Circassian, Georgian, Arab, etc.), and in this context, it should be argued that Turkey should have a cultural plurality... It should be ensured that everyone who wishes in Turkey can receive education in their own mother tongue and benefit from mass media...”

Erdoğan's evaluations in 1993, within the scope of “second republic discussions,” have never been forgotten; he criticized both the “single nation” and “single language” understanding with the words: “Turkey has had a rigid unitary understanding in its 70-year history. It has been ‘monist’ in every subject, and it has chosen this single thing itself... Who benefited from reducing an entire country to a zero literacy level at once through the alphabet revolution?..” Moreover, he explicitly stated the following:

“Another problem of ours is that our national integrity is in danger. Let me elaborate on this; the official ideology has a racist character. With this structure, it is not possible to protect national integrity. Currently, 27 ethnic groups live in the Republic of Turkey. The existence of these 27 ethnic groups must also be recognized. Theses such as ‘Turkey belongs to the Turks’ are wrong. Turkey belongs to everyone living in Turkey. A unity of faith can ensure the integrity of these people.” he said.

In Erdoğan's “bedside booklet” during the establishment phase of the AKP, the following were argued:

“In Turkey, society can be a society that speaks a single language at the official level, and a multilingual society in routine life... The Law on Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat) should be amended. The content of education in basic education institutions should be changed by taking into account a society that is multi-ethnic and contains differences.”

During their term in power, various openings such as Kurdish broadcasts on TRT and private Kurdish courses were made. However, when he saw that the demands of the PKK and its patrons did not end, he complained as follows in Sweden in 2008:

“We are preparing to broadcast mainly in Kurdish, Persian, and Arabic on one of the state television and radio channels. Besides these, they have the opportunities and rights to open courses to learn their mother tongue. But they started this business so exaggeratedly that they opened courses first, but when the courses did not work, this time they are saying to the state, 'give us aid and assign teachers so we can run these courses.' I wonder where in the world such a method exists? Look at EU countries, even there, there is no such thing... There is such a demand as an official language in Turkey. There is no official language other than Turkish in Turkey, and there cannot be. Such a thing is out of the question.”

While he spoke like this in Sweden, at the opening ceremony of TRT Kurdish in 2009, he said; “I think it will lead to much different steps being taken in time... Everything will happen slowly over time. We will be a little patient... The broadcasts will strengthen the bond of belonging. What binds us to each other is being a citizen of the Republic of Turkey. This is more important than blood ties.”

As for MHP Leader Bahçeli; his cries of “Single nation, single state, single homeland, single flag, single language” are well known.

For example, when Erdoğan started the new constitution discussions in 2021; while acknowledging that Turkey needs a new constitution for the presidential government system to take root and gain a base, he emphasized the following:

“The indivisibility of Turkey, which constitutes the main idea of the Constitution, its unitary political structure, and the principle that its language is Turkish are founding principles that are not open to different interpretations and bind everyone. And it should remain so. The Republic of Turkey is a national and unitary state based on the principle of single nation, single state, single homeland, single flag, single language. The new constitution must preserve our national and historical rights.”

At that time, he also called on opposition parties that were negotiating with the HDP regarding the constitution, saying, “It is another expectation of ours that those who want to sacrifice the indivisible integrity of the state with its country and nation to their political goals by preparing a draft constitution in secret circles, with dangerous intentions and shadowy ambitions, will be saved from the disgrace they have fallen into... It is a requirement of loyalty to the nation and democracy for those who set up a constitutional preparation table with the PKK to turn back from the wrong path they have strayed into, and their declarations of will regarding the writing of a new constitution are a test of their sincerity.”

Let us note that for a long time, Bahçeli has been saying only “single homeland, single nation, single state, single flag” without the “single language.”

IF THERE IS NO BARGAINING, WHAT ARE THESE?

The reason we are reminding you of these?

While Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler stated the other day once again that there was “no concession or bargaining” on the path to a “terror-free Turkey”; Imralı regular Pervin Buldan from the DEM Party explained that what the terrorist leader meant by the “integration phase” he mentioned in their last meeting was “the realization of the Kurdish people's expectations on many issues, especially the mother tongue issue,” and stated that they found the parliamentary report's approach to the mother tongue insufficient.

Since the other day was the “International Mother Language Day” declared by UNESCO, let us now convey what the DEM members and the Barzanis said.

- DEM Group Deputy Chairmen Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit and Sezai Temelli submitted a research motion to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for the constitutional and legal guarantee of the right to education in the mother tongue, especially Kurdish, and for the implementation of multilingual practices in public services.

- In the mother language day statement of the DEM's Language, Culture and Art Commission; “The monist and rigid centralist nation-state understanding in Turkey continues its policies of denial, assimilation, and liquidation towards the linguistic and cultural existence of peoples today as it did yesterday... As a result of the denial and assimilation policies in Turkey... Ubykh and Cappadocian Greek have been completely lost; the ancient dialect of Kurdish, Zazaki/Kirmancki, Laz, Homshetsi, Abkhaz, Circassian, Syriac, Pontic Greek, Western Armenian, and Romani are facing a serious threat of extinction... For social peace, language rights, especially education in the mother tongue, must be guaranteed and given legal status.” it was said, and everyone was called to “raise the struggle for the mother tongue.”

- DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan claimed that those who say “mother tongue divides” are lying, and said, “We are not saying that Turks should not speak Turkish, Arabs should not speak Arabic, Persians should not speak Persian... What do we want, what do we understand by democratic integration? The right to education in the mother tongue should now be everyone's. The mother tongue should be free. There should be cultural freedom... There should be local democracy.”

- The other co-chair, Tülay Hatimoğulları, made the statement, “In this age where we are living in the 21st century and the second century of the republic, trying to keep people in the vise of monism and defining every difference around a single identity is both impossible, meaningless, and outdated. Therefore, Turkey must move to an equation where all differences are recognized and accepted as wealth. Mr. Öcalan's emphasis on free citizenship is also important and special in this context.”

- While the Barzanis emphasized that “the mother tongue is the basis of national identity and unity,” in a news story titled “The Century of Kurdish in Turkey: Ban, assimilation, and an unending struggle” published in media close to the Barzanis; claims were included that “In Turkey, where approximately 25 million Kurds live, Kurdish has been deprived of a constitutional status and the right to education since the founding of the Republic... Similarly, Article 39/4 of the Treaty of Lausanne [However, this article is about our non-Muslim citizens recognized as minorities] states that no restrictions can be placed on the use of languages other than Turkish in the public sphere.”

“TURK-KURD-ARAB” EMPHASIS

After all this, let us come to the report prepared by the PKK commission chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.

Kurtulmuş, who met with the editors-in-chief of media organizations at an iftar, said the following while responding to criticisms regarding the “Turk-Kurd-Arab” emphasis in the report:

“I find the suspicion and anxiety that the writing of the Turk-Kurd-Arab issue will disrupt Turkey's unitary structure to be extremely baseless. Because in the report, it is very clear, in two places, that the unitary structure, constitutional order, indivisible integrity, and secular state structure of the Republic of Turkey have been very clearly emphasized and declared once again... Never has any hesitation been expressed regarding Turkey's unitary structure or state system, nor has anyone made such a proposal, nor has anything been said like ‘Let's talk about this in the report, let's write it.’ It is completely wrong, it is a wrong perception. I see it as a wrong interpretation made to overshadow this consensus on the report.”

In two places in the report; “unitary structure, indivisible integrity, secularism” are emphasized. But why is there no emphasis on the “Turkish Nation,” that is, the “national structure”?

Doesn't the third article of the Constitution say exactly, “The State of Turkey is an indivisible whole with its country and nation. Its language is Turkish.”?

Likewise, didn't MHP Leader Bahçeli describe the Republic of Turkey as “a national and unitary state based on the principle of single nation, single state, single homeland, single flag, single language.”?

Indeed, İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu also pointed out that the phrase “Turks, Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic elements” was written in the report because they could not discuss Article 66 of the Constitution, which regulates “Turkish citizenship,” and reminded, “We are a unitary, national state,” and asked the question, “Who are you trying to make a partner to this Republic, for what reason, and on what grounds?”

We left another name who made a statement on the occasion of the “International Mother Language Day” declared by UNESCO for last. This name is CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu. Tanrıkulu said, “The mother tongue issue is not only the issue of Kurdish citizens. The languages of Syriac, Laz, Circassian, Arab, Greek, and all other peoples are part of Turkey's cultural wealth. The visibility of these languages in the public sphere does not contribute to the division of the country, but to its democratic integrity.”

The reason we left Tanrıkulu for last?

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel called the young people who held and protected the Atatürk bust that was about to fall during the storm in Adana the other day, saying, “I was very moved, I swear I couldn't hold back my tears while watching, I'm glad you exist.”; I wish the CHP would also hold on tightly to the unitary and national structure of the Republic of Turkey founded by Atatürk, just like those young people, and protect it!..