In Turkey, Kurdish Language Teachers Begin Hunger Strike

[Anthea]

Rudaw

In Turkey, Kurdish Language Teachers Begin Hunger Strike

MARDIN, Turkey — Over a dozen graduates from a Kurdish program here have begun a hunger strike to protest the lack of appointments for Kurdish language teachers.

Graduates of Artuklu University’s Kurdology Institute in Mardin province, southeastern Turkey, say the Turkish government has not followed through on its historic pledge to open up jobs for Kurdish language teachers.

More than 1,000 Kurdish teachers are waiting to be assigned to schools in Turkey, where they will be teaching children in Kurdish. In a major feat for Kurdish rights, the government — which had banned Kurdish and other languages for decades — two years ago legalized Kurdish elective courses in public schools and Kurdish schooling in private institutions.

Yet the teachers are still without jobs.

"Unfortunately, the Turkish government's promises of granting more rights for Kurds are only words. We are unhappy with that," said Yunus Aslan, one of the 15 graduates who are carrying out the hunger strike.

Aslan said the teachers are prepared to push their case in the capital, Ankara.

Another graduate, Omer Oncel, said, "Despite the promises, the teachers aren’t being appointed. We’re protesting here to call attention to our case and we will continue until we’re certain about the future," Oncel told Rudaw.

According Ahmet Alis, an historian from Bogazici University in Istanbul, the delayed appointments of Kurdish teachers is a reflection of Turkish bureaucracy rather than discrimination against Kurds.

"The Turkish bureaucracy generally works slowly, even with ethnic Turkish teachers. They also wait a very long time to be appointed," Alis told Rudaw.

Aslan does not agree with Alis, however.

"We are being discriminated against. As long as the Kurdish language isn’t constitutionally guaranteed, we will have this problem," he said.

Kurdish language teachers last month launched a campaign via the Turkish Change.org website calling on the government to appoint Kurdish language teachers.

The Turkish government has not yet commented on the hunger strike. However, Education Minister Nabi Avci and Huseyin Celik, spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), have promised that teachers will be appointed.

The Kurdish language initiative is facilitated by the Artuklu University and the Ministry of Education.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/26082014

[Anthea]

In UK we have to find our own jobs - we do do sit back and wait for someone to hand out jobs

Also most of us teach more than one subject

Another alternative we have is to take on private work

I have never met a teacher who was only capable of teaching one subject

Thinking about it - t must cost the Turkish government a fortune if they employ a separate teacher for each subject - normally only happens in universities in UK

I hope that these teachers are capable of teaching Kurdish History

As for Kurds receiving better treatment in Turkey

Surely Kurds have realised by now that any rights being promised to them are:

a) to further Turkey's application into the EU
b) to comply with UN requests
c) to shut them up
d) to promote the weakening and dispersal of the PKK
e) to allow Turkish military activities within the Kurdish homeland to go unhindered
d) to make it look as though Ocalan was taking an active part in some mythical peace negotiations (is there anyone still foolish enough not to see the truth )