According to KurdPress, representatives of the Kurdish language institutions in Van considered recognizing the legal status of the Kurdish language and education in the mother tongue to be among the most important measures that should be taken within the framework of the peace process and a democratic society.

According to Mesopotamia, the framework law related to this process, which was published in the Official Gazette on August 17 after being approved by the Turkish Parliament, has received mixed reactions.While welcoming the passage of the law, a number of institutions have criticized its limited scope and disregard for the linguistic, cultural, and social dimensions of the Kurdish issue.

Masoud Kurdîtish, co-chair of the Kurdish Language and Culture Development Association (KURDÎGEH), said that evaluating the framework law requires understanding the views of Abdullah Öcalan. He said that Öcalan has insisted on moving the Kurdish issue from the conflict arena to the legal and political arena since the beginning of this process.

“We also evaluate this law positively; but naturally it has shortcomings. One of them is the attempt to remove Abdullah Öcalan from the process and the other is the language issue. When you talk about peace with a nation, it is not acceptable to continue examining the issue solely in the context of terrorism. If you want to accept the existence of a nation, you must also recognize its language,” Kurdîtish added.

Kurdish language and culture must be included in the law

The co-chair of KURDÎGEH criticized the lack of action to make Kurdish the language of education, saying that the language is still recorded in the minutes of the parliament and some official documents with an “X” or the phrase “unknown language.” He said: “The Kurdish issue has now been transferred to the legal arena; but in order to achieve peace, the Kurdish language and culture must also be included in the law.”

Kurdîtish called for the establishment of kindergartens, preschools and Kurdish-language schools by the government, adding that Kurdish-language institutions face numerous legal obstacles even when teaching children the Kurdish alphabet. He also announced that these institutions have begun efforts to set up pre-school centers and schools for education in the Kurdish language.It is not just about the weapons being silenced

Visi Atay, a lawyer and secretary of the Legal Research and Education Association (DADSAZ), also considered the scope of the framework law to be limited to the laying down of weapons and regulations related to the execution of sentences, and called for its expansion: “The Kurdish issue is not just a conflict issue. This issue has existed since the founding of the Republic of Turkey, and the factors that led to the conflict are still in place.”

He added: “A law has been passed and the weapons are being silenced; but at the same time, the factors that brought the Kurdish issue to the stage of conflict must also be examined and resolved.” Atay considered the neglect of the social dimensions of peace to be one of the major shortcomings of the law, emphasizing that ending the armed conflict alone is not enough to achieve lasting peace.