A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

1 2 A REPORT ON THE

RIGHT TO A MOTHER IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR

RESEARCH TEAM Av. Çiğdem ERTAK Ezgi KOMAN Ruşen YAKUT Av. Selmin Cansu DEMİR

“This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union provided under Etkiniz EU Programme. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Göç ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı* and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union”

1 CONTENTS Abbreviations 5

About the Migration and Humanitarian Relief Foundation 7

Executive Summary 9

Introduction 13

Aim and Content 15

Methodology 15

Limitations & Opportunities 17

Background 18

Findings 21

Children’s Rights to Live Their Own Culture 23 and Use Their Mother Tongue

Children’s Mother Tongue Usage 25

The Reasons why Children don’t/can’t Speak 26 Their Mother Tongue

Using Mother Tongue In School 28

The Effects of Using Mother Tongue on Children 29

The Effects Of The Political Atmosphere In Last 30 10 Years On Children’s Use Of Mother Tongue

Analysis In Children’s Right To Live Their Own Culture 31

And To Use Their Own Language

Teaching MotherTongue 33 The Effects of the Political Atmosphere in Last 10 Years on Children’s Use of Mother Tongue 37

Analysis In Teaching In The Mother Tongue 38

2 Using Mother Tongue in Education 41

The Effects Of Mother Tongue Education On Children 46

The Effects Of The Political Atmosphere In The Last 47 10 Years On Children’s Mother Tongue Education

Analysis In The Rights In Education In Mother Tongue 48

Children’s Access to Media Products in 51 Mother Tongue

The Effect Of Political Atmosphere In The Last 10 Years On 56 Children’s Access To Media Products In Mother Tongue

Analysis In The Right To Access Media Products In A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Their Mother Tongue 57

Application Mechanisms Against Violations 61 of Rights in Mother Tongue

Analysis In The Right To Access Application 64 And Complaint Mechanisms In Mother Tongue

Reflection Of Differences Such As Disability, Poverty 67 And Gender On Mother Tongue Rights

Analysis In The Reflection Of Differences Such As Disability, 70 Poverty And Gender On The Rights Of Their Mother Tongue

Children Demand and Adults Recommend 71

Analysis In The Demands Of The Children In Terms Of

The Right To A Mother Tongue And The Suggestions Of 74

The Care Givers And Community Leaders

Recommendations 75

Conclusion 79

If Children Become Managers... 83

Additional: The Report Indicator Set Of Using 87 Mother Tongue Among Children In Diyarbakir 3 4 ABBREVIATIONS

EU European Union

AÇSHB Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services

UN United Nations A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children

CİMER Presidential Communication Center

GİYAV Migration and Humanitarian Aid Foundation

KDK Ombudsman Institution

MEB Ministry of Education

OHAL Emergency Situation

OPCAT Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture

TBMM Grand National Assembly of Turkey

TİHEK Turkey’s Human Rights and Gender Equality Authority

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

5 6 The Migration and Humanitarian Aid ABOUT THE Foundation (GİYAV) was established in 1999 in Mersin, which is one of the main provinces that received

MIGRATION AND internal migration and forced IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO migration. GİYAV, which had women, HUMANITARIAN ecology and child-oriented studies in its establishment, moved the Foundation Center to Diyarbakır in RELIEF 2010. As a result of the discussions carried out in the new period, it was FOUNDATION determined that the studies in the fields of women and ecology were effective in Diyarbakır, but child studies were limited. Thus, GİYAV prioritized working for children, who are among the groups most affected by migration. While GİYAV continues its activities in three main areas of women, children and ecology, based on its establishment perspective, it aims to make child rights violations visible and prevent child rights violations with its researches and practices.

7 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With this study, it was aimed to monitor the mother tongue rights of the children living in Diyarbakır, to make visible the obstacles to these rights A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO and to develop policies based on the opinions of the children. In the study, the United Nations Children’s Rights Convention (UNCRC), organized by the feed material for reservations by Turkey, children’s native language in media products to access (Article 17), education in their mother tongue vision (Article 29), rights to use live and native speakers of their own culture (Article 30); The guiding principles of the Convention: the right to life, survival and development; prohibition of discrimination; child participation; and the best interests of the child. Within the scope of the monitoring study, human rights indicators have been developed using international human rights standards in order to understand whether the public administration fulfils its obligations regarding children’s language rights. All monitoring work was carried out on the basis of these indicators, and the interview forms prepared for the field study were also created on the basis of the indicators. Prior to the fieldwork, the volunteers who will conduct the interviews were given training on children’s rights and data collection techniques. The monitoring report has been prepared based on the findings of in-depth interviews with 20 children and 40 adults living in Diyarbakır including parents, teachers, school founders, artists, media workers, representatives of non- governmental organizations and local administrative authorities. Together with the analysis of the content of the interviews, the report observed the provisions of international and national legislation on mother tongue rights, statistical information and the reflections of the political atmosphere between 2010 and 2020 on children’s mother tongue rights. At the end of the study, it was determined that there are obstacles in Diyarbakır for the right of children to live their own culture, to use and learn their mother tongue, to receive education in their mother tongue, to access media products and to access application and complaint mechanisms.

9 According to the findings on the right of children to access media products in their mother tongue enshrined in the article 17 of the UNCRC: • Children cannot Access Kurdish books and libraries. • Public broadcasting in Kurdish does not address children. • Television channels broadcasting in Kurdish experience difficulties in producing content for children; Those who produce in fields such as Kurdish literature, music and theatre face difficulties. • The state of emergency, appointment of trustees replacing the elected mayors and other public officials as well as the conflict process negatively affect access to Kurdish publications. • According to the findings on the right of children to receive education in their mother tongue enshrined in the article 29 of the UNCRC: • The closure of schools providing education in Kurdish in Diyarbakır, the absence of schools in every district, the limited age group of schools, high school and university entrance exams, and the legislation allowing only private schools to be opened; It constitutes an obstacle for children to be able to attend Kurdish education institutions. • There is no incentive provided by the state to schools providing education in Kurdish, and institutions’ own resources are not sufficient for the continuation of the service. However, demands and efforts for education in the mother tongue may cause educators to be subjected to intense pressure. • The effects of the State of Emergency, the appointed trustee replacing elected officials and the conflict process may cause the schools to be clos down and the fact that they cannot continue their education, as well as the traumatization of children. According to the findings on the right of children to live their own culture and to use their mother tongue enshrined in the article 30 of the UNCRC: • Children cannot sufficiently benefit from the elective Kurdish language courses given within the scope of Living Languages and Dialects. The political process after 2015 negatively affects access to lessons. • Children in Diyarbakır speak Kurdish less than adults. Social and individual traumas cause a decrease in the use of language. According to the findings on the prohibition of discrimination regulated by Article 2 of the UNCRC: • Children in Diyarbakır do not know where to apply when they are subjected to an injustice, and the application mechanisms do not provide services in Kurdish. • During the monitoring, the most important difference affecting children’s access to mother tongue rights was the disability. It has been observed that poverty causes children not to benefit from Kurdish education and activities. As a result of the monitoring, a policy implemented to eliminate these disadvantages could not be determined.

10 In the face of these violations of rights listed in the report, it has been observed that the demands of the children are concentrated under the following 3 headings: • Learning mother tongue at home, talking to parents in mother tongue, • Education in their mother tongue, • Access to mass information sources such as books and television in their mother tongue. At the end of the observation, it is reccomended to take into account the findings reflecting the views of children: • The reservations regarding the rights of mother tongue in articles 17, 29 and 30 of the UNCRC and other international conventions should be lifted, international conventions covering the rights of mother tongue should be a party to, and obstacles to the use of Kurdish in public life should be removed by making a constitutional amendment. Discrimination against children whose mother tongue is Kurdish should be effectively fought. A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO • Parents should be supported in terms of children’s access to mother tongue rights. • The obstacles arising from the law and practice regarding the teaching of Kurdish in schools should be eliminated. • The production and dissemination of Kurdish media products should be encouraged, public broadcasting should be made for children. • The application and complaint mechanisms that children can access in case of violations of rights should be made accessible in Kurdish, and bilingual personnel should be employed in judicial and administrative authorities. • Special measures should be taken regarding the mother tongue rights of disabled and poor children. • Child-focused work of local governments should be strengthened. • Disaggregated data about mother tongue should be collected. • Items related to mother tongue rights should be allocated in the budgets of the relevant institutions. • The information requested by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child should be explained in the country reports on the UNCRC, and the reports and concluding observations should be translated into Kurdish and disseminated. • An advisory board consisting of representatives and children should be established, and children’s views should be sought in all decisions and practices regarding mother tongue rights, including the recommendations in this report.

11 12 INTRODUCTION Turkey, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children belonging to minorities, including the native and indigenous rights groups 17, 29 and 30 were confirmed with a reservation on the Article. United Nations Children’s Rights Committee in 2001 and concluding observations on Turkey announced in the year 2012, these reservations have met with concern, especially in education, freedom of expression, in cases such as the right to use rights and their own language, enjoy their own culture, drawbacks of the Republic of Turkey Constitution and the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty He stated that they may have negative effects on children from ethnic groups that are not recognized as minorities, and especially on Kurdish children. The Committee called on Turkey to better protect the Kurds and that encouraged children to remove reservations to provide IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO better opportunities for all children to be conveyed. After this concluding observations, Turkey, the combined 4th and 5th periodic report submitted by 2019 at the Committee of the Constitution, 2, 3, arguing 4 and Article 10 of the “drawbacks of cancellation revised to about continuing work on the implementation of the recommendations that” the Committee reported to1. In Turkey, between 2013 - 2015 on the basis of the Kurdish problem in the conduct of negotiations in the peace process, a number of regulations related to children’s mother tongue rights was implemented. During the resumption of conflicts2 in 2015 and emergency situation3 declared after the military coup attempt in 2016, practices such as the closure of many institutions serving children and the appointment of trustees to local governments, prevented children from accessing their mother tongue rights. In the process, we had to do monitoring and reporting in order to understand what happened in terms of mother tongue rights and to advocate on the basis of children’s experience and suggestions. With this monitoring study, which we have completed with the support of the EU Program for Monitoring Compliance with the International Human Rights Framework, we tried to reveal how the developments regarding mother tongue rights and the reservations made to the UNCRC reflect on the lives of Kurdish children.3

1- Some links that you can Access to periodical reports and observation results : https://www.ailevecalisma.gov.tr/chgm/mevzuat/protokoller/, https://ailevecalisma.gov.tr/chgm/sayfalar/cocuk-haklari-sozlesmesi- ulke-raporlari/, https://insanhaklarimerkezi.bilgi.edu.tr/tr/content/141-cocuk-haklar-komitesi/

2- According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, “in 2015, the Kurdish issue in a democratic and peaceful way of implemented the aspect of a holistic program sequences for the resolution, with the impact of the developments in the Middle East immediately after the June general elections, an environment of conflict in Turkey has restarted. In this process, the Constitution and the first European Convention on Human Rights which was declared contrary to its international obligations in Turkey’s fundamental rights to be indefinite and the day the first of the curfew was implemented on August 16, 2015. curfews and bans indefinitely picture with this format has experienced for the first time in Turkey. “ look for details: https://tihv.org.tr/ sokaga-cikma-yasaklari/

3- After the military coup that took place across Turkey on 15 July 2016. From 21 July 2016 it was declared a state of emergency for three months. The state of emergency, which was extended seven times, was completely abolished on July 18, 2018, after two years.

13 14 AIM AND CONTENT With this study, we aim to monitor the right to a mother tongue education in Diyarbakır, to make visible the obstacles to these rights, and to propose policies based on children’s views. In our report, we discussed the 17th, 29th and 30th articles of the United

Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the context of children’s IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO mother tongue rights. Accordingly, the rights of children to access media products in their mother tongue (Article 17), to receive education in their mother tongue (Article 29), to experience their own culture and to use their mother tongue (Article 30). We have followed the guiding principles of the Convention within the framework of the right to life, survival and development, prohibition of discrimination, child participation and the best interests of the child. As a result of the indicator4 set we developed, we determined the topics and sources from which we will collect data. Our report, based on the findings of the interviews on children’s mother tongue rights, includes desk studies such as researching international and national legislation provisions, accessing statistical information, and also includes the reflections of the political atmosphere between 2010 and 2020 on children’s mother tongue rights. METHODOLOGY We chose Diyarbakır for observation. Diyarbakır is not only a city where adults and children whose mother tongue is Kurdish , but also it is accepted as the center of the languages spoken in Kurdish and it is at the center of political and social developments affecting the rights of their mother tongue, that’s why we chose Diyarbakır. We started our reporting work on 20 November 2020, on World Children’s Day which is a meaningful coincidence. First of all, we developed human rights indicators using international human rights standards in order to understand whether the public administration is fulfilling its obligations regarding children’s language rights, and we proceeded based on this set of indicators in all monitoring work. We prepared the interview forms to be used in the field study on the basis of the indicators we created, and conducted a training

4- You can find the set of indicators in the appendix at the end of the report.

15 study on children’s rights and information gathering with the researchers who will conduct the interviews. During our field activities that we completed within 3 months, we interviewed 60 people, including 20 children, 12 parents, 12 representatives of non-governmental organizations, 6 teachers, 2 school founders, 3 local administrators, 5 artists / media workers. After the interviews were completed, we analyzed all the records and put them in writing. By giving each participant representative letters and numbers, we ensured the anonymization of personal information during data analysis and reporting, and prevented participants from mixing with each other. In this context; Interview data were transferred to the report in a way that children were represented by the letters Ç, parents E, artists and media representatives SM, school managers O, teachers Ö, non-governmental organization representatives NGO, local administrators. Considering the purpose and subject of our monitoring report, we interpreted the interview data by classifying them with content analysis method and comparing them with the findings of the desk study. When choosing the people we interviewed, due to the importance of providing diversity, gender, socio-economic status, education level, profession and institution where they work, we paid attention to the representation of the differences. We equally observed the age and gender distribution of the child participants between the ages of 13-17. In order to make a follow-up that includes children with special needs, we included a separate section about these children in our interviews and we interviewed a disabled child participant. As an adult interviewer, we included professionals such as author, publisher, television player, musician, theater player, educator, college owner, nursery founder, as well as parents, representatives of non-governmental organizations and local administrators operating in many areas from psychosocial support to social services, from education to law to our study. Thus, we tried to reflect the experiences and views of different group who works for children in a way that complete each other.

Although the rights of mother tongue directly and profoundly affect the lives of children, it has been one of the issues that has not been consulted until now. However, we believe that children are experts in matters related to their lives, and we know that when they have the opportunity to express themselves, they can make demands regarding their rights. For this reason, we hope that our report will bring a new perspective and make a substantial contribution to the work on mother tongue rights, as it focuses on children’s experiences and suggestions.

16 LIMITATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES We would like to share the observations, limitations and opportunities we have gained during our monitoring study, in order to help reveal the data in the report. While the five children we contacted for interview said that they did not want to participate in the study; According to our observations, some of the children showed avoidance behaviors when answering questions related to Kurdish and ethnic origin. In three interviews, the parents did not leave the children alone and intervened from behind, causing the children to remain silent and hesitant. One of the parents called us after the interview we completed and said that his child wanted to tell a lot, but could not speak clearly enough because he was worried. These situations may be related to the effects of adolescence, as well as the possibility that children may not feel safe enough when talking about their mother tongue. Although the mother tongue is Kurdish and has difficulty speaking Turkish, some female

parents preferred to speak Turkish during the interview and stated that they IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO were insistent on speaking Turkish with their children, raised questions about mothers’ concerns about their mother tongue. A small number of adults who said they could not participate in the study, did not accept online interviews, stated that they could only give written answers, or answered our questions superficially during the interviews also cited safety concerns. All of this was an indication of how the traumatic experiences and conflict environment we have included in our report constituted a limitation for our monitoring work. Despite these limitations, many interviewees expressed their need and longing to talk about their mother tongue and contributed to our work in a highly cooperative way. The fact that they conveyed their views based on their experiences and testimonies enabled us to reach a rich resource in order to identify the obstacles to mother tongue rights. As the research team, we created an ethical framework with the workshop we conducted on “monitoring with children” before starting the interviews. By making risk analysis; We took care to fulfill our obligations regarding the structuring of our questionnaires in a way to ensure children’s participation rights, that the informed consent forms are appropriate for the development of children, and that the data are reported in a manner that ensures confidentiality. The aim of our monitoring study was to reveal the current situation regarding mother tongue rights with and for children. When we completed our interviews, we saw once again that despite all the concerns and pressures that cause limitations, children need opportunities to speak, express their feelings and thoughts freely: “Thank you for your questions. I especially thank you for having this conversation with me because as a child at this age, expressing my feelings and thoughts about my native language has been very comforting and motivating. I thank you for that. “ Ç3

17 BACKGROUND Although language rights are a very broad concept, it can be defined as the right to use one’s mother tongue in private and public areas5. Turkey has never been a party to agreements6 which include language rights, the ones they’ve signed are with reservation7. Although states have the right to make reservations to the Conventions, reservations that are incompatible with their goal and purpose are not accepted8. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child also states that full and unconditional respect for children’s rights can only be possible with withdrawal of reservations9. In this context it is possible to say that the reservation which Turkey put is not compatible with the UNCRC’s prohibition of discrimination. According to the artictle in Turkey Constitution, the official language is Turkish and no other languages can be taught as a native language except Turkish. This is an obstacle to develop and use the mother tongue both in private and public area10. Although the national legislation of Turkey which we mention in the further sections, includes some arrangements such as teaching Kurdish and using Kurdish in education and media, it doesnt touch children lives. However, all international texts regulating mother tongue rights, with or without binding force, emphasize positive obligations rather than negative obligations of states. This means that the state goes beyond banning and takes the necessary measures to enable children to use their rights. At the same time, states need to keep disaggregated data in order to identify barriers and gaps in the enjoyment of their rights by indigenous, minority or different ethnic groups, to prevent discrimination and to implement appropriate measures through laws, resources, policies and programs11 In this context, there are some warnings about Turkey in the observation results of UN Children’s Rights Committee’s report. The report is divided into sections such as age, gender, geographic location, ethnic and socio-economic to facilitate the analysis. UN Racial Discrimination Elimination Committee also suggests to collect such divided data in its Turkey observation report in January 11 2016, because it is sorry that reliable and comprehensive date couldnt be provided about using mother tongue and ethnicity12. In the 4. and 5. periodical report that Turkey presented to UN Children’s Right Committee, Turkey says that all children’s rights are recognized without any discrimination, so that there are no official statistics kept based on ethnicity in the country and no analysis has been done.

5- Oslo Recommendations and Explanatory Note on Language Rights of National Minorities, February 1998. 6- European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights No. 12 Additional Protocol. 7- 17th, 29th and 30th articles of UNCRC, 27th article of UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 13 / 3-4th article of UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 8- Article 51 of the UNCRC, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. 9- General Measures for the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 5 (2003). 10- Source recommendation for detailed evaluation: İnceoğlu, Sibel. “The Place of Mother Tongue in Education: International Documents and New Constitution.” Marmara University Faculty of Law Journal of Legal Studies 19.2 (2013): 151-164. 11- Yerli Çocuklar ve Sözleşme Kapsamında Hakları, Genel Yorum No:11 (2009) 12- https://insanhaklarimerkezi.bilgi.edu.tr/media/uploads/2020/12/08/CERD_C_TUR_CO_4-6_E.pdf

18 We really couldn’t reach any disaggregated statistics data on children’s mother tongue rights announced by official sources during our desk research. We also could not find any information on mother tongue rights in the strategy documents announced by the relevant ministries. we could not determine the budget allocated for children’s mother tongue rights in the Central Government Budget Law and other legal regulations, as no segregation and explanation were made13. When all these are considered together, the mother tongue of children’s rights in Turkey, where restoring legal certainty literally, the road map is not available on the realization of these rights, children are unable to access the native language of the law is not conducive to effective supervision which created the world and human rights violations visible by making a human rights monitoring work to create a to-do list turns out to be needed. A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

13- The Committee of 2012 on Turkey Distribution of Resources of the Concluding Observations titled 19th in the article “particularly marginalized the impact of spending on children who are in the position and effective use of these expenditure, national, and to provide opportunities for evaluation at the local level, the amount of budget spent and the rate should be determined and the next periodic report information should be given on this issue” if the sending alerts 4th and 5th in Turkey to provide information about their expenses for children of the relevant institutions in figuring out whether combined Periodic Report, reporting on the qualities that did not expect the Committee.

19 20 A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

FINDINGS

21 22 Children’s Rights to Live Their IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Own Culture and Use Their Mother Tongue

23 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO LIVE THEIR OWN

CULTURE AND USE THEIR MOTHER TONGUE

Language rights are seen as a guarantee for individuals to live their own culture and exist with their identities, because a person’s native language is the basis of their culture and identity. Reservations by Turkey issue that the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in parallel with Article 27 of the UNCRC’s hesitant Article 30, minority or that of the child’s indigenous minority communities to enjoy their own culture together with other members of their own religion to believe and practice their own, it regulates that they cannot be deprived of the rights to use their language. Considering the general structure and other provisions of the aforementioned Conventions, a question may arise as to whether such a special regulation is required or not, but the increasing discrimination against minority and indigenous rights, which is constantly increasing day by day, makes it compulsory to secure these rights with a separate article14.

The inseparable relationship between mother tongue, ethnicity and culture was emphasized by the children and adult participants we interviewed within the extent of our monitoring study. Defining the mother tongue as a means of embracing oneself and one’s culture also explained the meaning people attribute to their mother tongue rights: ““The mother tongue of people is an important point really, because the language is integral, especially the mother tongue. If a person knows Kurdish, he will actually unite with his own society. It provides harmony in this way. But if he wants to express himself in a language directed and revived by the system, he will remain unfamiliar with his native language and will never be able to introduce himself and express himself. A mother tongue is not just a language, but a mother tongue, a culture, a tradition, people’s past, an ethnic origin. Indeed, if a society wants to know itself, if it wants to define itself with its past and future, it can define itself with its mother tongue best. He can reach his reality in his mother tongue. Therefore, my only wish is to raise awareness of the society about mother tongue, I hope our society will become more conscious on this issue ” Ç3 “We are a society and we cannot run it without our language. If we didn’t have a language, there wouldn’t be Kurds.” Ç15 “Children like to listen something in their culture entirely Kurdish. Because they adopt it, and they see a part of them in it. That’s why everything has to be in the native language. “ STÖ9

14- Convention Implementation Handbook on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Children’s Fund (2002), s.459

24 CHILDREN’S MOTHER TONGUE USAGE

The use of mother tongue, which is an integral part of a person’s identity and culture, was one of the rights we followed. For this reason, we asked to the participants we interviewed with questions about children’s use of mother tongue in private and public places. All the adult participants we interviewed said that their mother tongue is Kurdish. Although most of the parents stated that they mainly speak Kurdish in the household, some participants stated that they had a bilingual communication with the children, while some of the participants stated that they spoke Turkish with their children because they did not speak Kurdish: “Two of my little ones don’t know at all, the others understand and don’t know how to speak. When I speak, my children just look at my face. “E2 “We usually speak 70 percent Turkish, but there is a thirty percent share of Kurdish, which is my reality, so it would be a lie if I say I talk to my children

Kurdish. E5 IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO When we asked the 20 children we interviewed what their mother tongue is, half of the children stated that their mother tongue is Kurdish and they mainly speak Kurdish at home; 7 of them are native speakers of Turkish; 3 of them said that both languages are their mother tongue: “Kurdish, Turkish. Yes both mixed” Ç10 “My mother’s language is mine. I speak Turkish normally, but I also know a little Kurdish.” Ç17 “Turkish but our mother tongue is Kurdish but we speak Turkish.” Ç19 The fact that 7 children who states that their mother tongue is Turkish, despite their predominantly Turkish at home, they speak Kurdish with their parents and some relatives , it shows that their mother tongue is actually Kurdish. The fact that children are so alienated from their mother tongue was one of the most important findings that attracted our attention during our field study. One of the main reasons why children defined their mother tongue as Turkish instead of Kurdish was that some children did not know Kurdish at all and could not use this language at school. The number of children who stated that they spoke Kurdish outside the home was only 3. The rest of the children said that they used Turkish as the language of communication in all their social lives: “I speak Turkish because I don’t know Kurdish very well.” Ç16 “I speak Turkish everywhere, I also don’t know English” Ç18 “I generally speak Turkish everywhere. It is mostly because I don’t know Kurdish well. I also want Kurdish to be spoken, but because I don’t know it I speak Turkish.” Ç19

25 THE REASONS WHY CHILDREN DON’T/CAN’T SPEAK THEIR MOTHER TONGUE

Adult participants attributed the reason why children do not speak Kurdish in public because they had to speak Turkish at school, and that the television and social settings where they spend most of their time is Turkish. In these consensus responses, it is emphasized that children are confused by the prevalence of Turkish in school and social life and therefore they turn to Turkish: “We try to resist in our old mother tongue to not to make it forget, but since the language of education is in Turkish by pressure, there is a conflict, of course, because no alternative is left. Such multilingualism gives s free space to someone but the others are restricted, it is troublesome. Therefore, no matter how much children learn Kurdish, this language of education doesnt reflect to their imagination and remains limited..” E8 “After children start to school their language turns immediately to Turkish, especialy in streets, school, bazaar and etc. School has a very particular role in this case. And naturally, it becomes like it is their parents’ language at home, and they continue Turkish.” STÖ4 “After the age of 6 or 7, tv, social environment, school life are Turkish. After a certain period of time, “why am I being punished at home, my friends, my surroundings, my teachers, the world that is popular to me always move Turkish and English” and they push Kurdish to the third plan.It is the world of children, you know, they focuse on the popular one.”Ö3 In our interviews with NGO representatives, local administrators and educators, the prominent themes regarding the use of children’s mother tongue are; there fear, embarrassment and trauma. In this context, it is stated that children are afraid of speaking their mother tongue, that the source of their fears was traumatic experiences, that they sometimes overcome these compelling feelings with a relationship of trust, and that they feel excluded and embarrassed when they speak Kurdish. In support of the findings we receive from parents, it is said that the rate of children using their mother tongue in private and public spaces has decreased. In particular, it is stated that the conflicts in the region in 2015 are effective in this decline. Participants, who carry out activities with children, share why children are moving away from their mother tongue through their own observations:: “The child is afraid of using his mother tongue because he has lived all of his pain, trauma and abuse through it. That child can only express himself when he feele safe.The neighborhood where I lived is demolished now, there are no children left in that neighborhood, 90 percent of those people speak Kurdish. But when I started these activities in that neighborhood, that child was even having difficulty expressing himself in Turkish, but he insistently

26 said that I will express myself in Turkish. Turkish. Because the language I lived with is really perceived as a language of shame. Unfortunately, the language we live in is also a trauma. “ STÖ6 “They have a lot of misinformation about their mother tongue, they have a lot of fears, there is a fear, withdrawal, an introversion coming from within and outside the household. Especially after the conflicts in Sur, there is a serious decrease in the rate of children turning to their mother tongue. If the information they obtain from the outside speaks their mother tongue, they see themselves as if they were one of the actors of that process, or as if it would hinder them in their education and business life in the future.” STÖ1 “It is only the language spoken by his parents, a language that his friends do not speak when he goes to the park. In this situation, the child feels excluded, feels as if he is a different person, does not express when he goes somewhere, he is shy and embarrassed for speaking Kurdish. You know, these have been experienced a lot in the current period and in the old period. You know, he is a bad person because he speaks Kurdish, he

cannot express himself.” Y2 IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO “Some children living in Sur were speaking Kurdish among themselves, but their communication with us always turned to Turkish, and when we continued to speak Kurdish, they started to respond in Turkish. Speaking Kurdish made them feel that they pushed them to the second plan in public, they approached with a feeling of embarrassment.” STÖ10 Adult participants also mentioned the criminalization of speaking Kurdish, seeing it as a political demand rather than a right, and perceiving rights claims as terrorist activities, among the factors that negatively affect children’s use of their mother tongue: “Language demands are being criminalized, terrorizing, as if they were divisive, and reflected as a separatist demand, so owning it has turned into a job that requires courage, our most natural right.” STÖ4 “I say it in quotation marks, using mother tongue is like a terrorist activity, people are seem as if they are terrorist, there are some reservations because of such misinformation.’’STÖ1 “Speaking Kurdish, learning Kurdish is perceived as a political stance. That’s why a mentality revolution is required.’’Ö1 In accordance with our ethical framework, we decided to refrain from asking harmful questions about the use of mother tongue that would trigger the trauma of children. For this reason, we did not direct a question to the children, but the observations of the adult participants were confirmed by some of the children’s statements. Because, in the questions we asked about Turkish, we determined that the children thought that Kurdish was forbidden. Although it is not forbidden to speak Kurdish, these expressions of the children revealed that they were subjected to de facto obstructions and exclusion when speaking in their mother tongue in their daily lives:

27 “We communicate more in Turkish because speaking Kurdish at school is not tolerated, and also because we cannot speak comfortably because our language is banned from the system perspective.” Ç3 “Some of them reacted a little bit harshly to me because their political views were not the same as me. You know, we had a little discussion next to me in the way of reading. “Ç5 “ıımmit depends on the country we live in” Ç8 “I think it is forbidden to speak Kurdish at school. We prefer Turkish directly. Because very few people know. I know a little too. “ Ç10 “When I see someone ol, I directly speak Kurdish. But when I see someone official like teachers, I speak Turkish.” Ç20 Despite these multifaceted social reasons that negatively affect the use of Kurdish by children, in our interviews with parents, it was stated that people whose children did not speak Kurdish were accusing them; We have seen that parents whose children speak Kurdish can only do this by their own efforts : “There is nothing worse than not speaking your mother tongue. You say you are Kurdish, you don’t speak in your mother tongue, you don’t apply it to your lifestyle. It is a problem. So there are also impact rates, what is the system doing its job well. It assimilates. It doesn’t stay idle for even a minute. It is successful in injecting its own sanctions, thoughts, to the societies. Be sure, if we made an effort, this might not be the case today. You have to be self-critical. First of all for myself, for my own family. So can I, yes. But here I am having trouble at home. I don’t know why I live, believe me. This must mean confronting. This is my reality. “E5 USING MOTHER TONGUE IN SCHOOL

We have stated that one of the most important factors affecting children’s use of mother tongue is the language of instruction at school. In the following sections of our report, we will also share the findings on the teaching of the mother tongue and the use of mother tongue in education, but under the heading of mother tongue use, we also want to convey the data we find important regarding the language preferences of children at school. In our study, although all the participants stated that the language spoken by children at school is Turkish, when we asked the children about this, we learned that children who know Kurdish prefer to speak Kurdish during their breaks: :

28 “Its Turkish class, Turkish but it changes during break. Even Kurdish goes between sometimes.” Ç8 “I frequently speak Kurdish with my close friends during breaks, I speak Turkish with teachers in the class.” Ç15 “Yes we speak Turkish in the class. I speak Kurdish with my friends who speak Kurdish during breaks.” Ç20 Teachers also stated that children who know Kurdish prefer to speak Kurdish among themselves outside of lessons, and that their games and quarrels are in Kurdish: “I don’t know if the children express themselves better during the breaks, but they use Kurdish more often among themselves, especially when they get angry and fight, they immediately start speaking Kurdish, I observed this a lot.”Ö2 “The children speak just Kurdish outside of the lesson. They call each other in Kurdish while playing the ball, playing games on the playgrounds “Ö3 A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO The parents we interviewed said that even though they themselves speak Kurdish, the children speak Turkish when they go to school, but they prefer to speak Kurdish if the teacher know Kurdish: “I was talking Kurdish to the teachers in my son’s school, Because I knew that they were Kurdish and they understood me. But we communicate Turkish with the new teachers.E1 “When I went there, I always said ıf you know Kurdish, its better to communicate in Kurdish. Someone know, someone dont, you have to use their language if they dont know Kurdish.’’ E9 THE EFFECTS OF USING MOTHER TONGUE ON CHILDREN

In the interviews we held, the children told that despite their little knowledge of Kurdish, they are making an effort to learn and speak. Accordingly, children want to speak their mother tongue correctly; They were trying to make use of facilities such as courses and internet in their own way: “I speak Turkish most of the time, but I try to speak Zazaki with the people living in the villages, but I cannot say that I am very successful.”Ç4 “Turkish but I show off with Zazaki as well”Ç8 “I did not know Kurdish in the past. There was a course here, I learned there because my father sometimes spoke Kurdish with us, I did not understand, they sent me there. There are many people who use Kurdish incorrectly, for example, when we speak Kurdish, most of the words are Turkish, I sometimes ask to my father, he also doesnt know. I also try to research, I go to my

29 neighbour because there is internet there, I search some words from there, but I have a little difficulty because the meaning doesnt come out exactly. “Ç12 “I dont know Kurdish very well, when I read I learn a bit. I think it is good to learn Kurdish, it is like other languages, it is our mother tongue, it is good to learn.’’ Ç13 ‘’I have a friend whose eyes shine when I speak Kurdish. He wants to speak Kurdish a lot, his mother hasnt spoken to him in Kurdish, thats why he doesnt know. He tries to get support from me. He tries to speak Kurdish when we meet. He’’ll pick it up slowly.’’Ç20 Children who speak Kurdish expressed their encounters with their mother tongue and their participation in activities in this language with feelings such as excitement, happiness, joy and curiosity: ““Well, since it is my mother tongue, I am watching it excitedly. I am very happy that it contributes something to me. “Ç14 “I was very happy because it is my mother tongue. I was going joyfully. It was once a week, but I was looking forward it..” Ç15 “I am very happy, so there is always a smile on my face. I especially like it when I see people of my age who can speak Kurdish. Normally they say, I am Kurdish, I do not know or understand my mother tongue, they say I cannot speak. So I like it when I see both understanding and speaking. I really like my tongue.” Ç20 THE EFFECTS OF THE POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE IN LAST 10 YEARS ON CHILDREN’S USE OF MOTHER TONGUE

Diyarbakir has gone through a process in which the solution process and conflict prevailed in different periods in the last 10 years, and severe violations of democratic rights were experienced after various gains15. This situation was deeply reflected in children’s right of life and development, but also directly affected their right to live their own culture and to use their mother tongue16. In this regard, we have included the change in the use of native language rights in the last 10 years in our observation study. Although the adults we interviewed stated that they were satisfied with the gains regarding the use of the mother tongue, they found them inadequate, emphasizing the challenging conditions created by the conflict environment in 2015 and the appointment of trustees to local governments after the 2016 state of emergency, and They declared that it caused serious obstacles related to:

15- The map of curfews in Turkey that prepared by Human Rights Foundation in Turkey 16 August 2015-1 January 2020: https:// tihv.org.tr/basin-aciklamalari/16-agustos-2015-1-ocak-2020-tarihleri-arasinda-ilan-edilen-sokaga-cikma-yasaklari/

16- The report of the violation of children during conflicts that prepared by Human Right Foundation in Turkey 7 August 2015-16 August2016: https://tihv.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/catisma-donemlerinde-cocuk-hak-ihlalleri.pdf

30 “Six years ago there was a flow before these events happened. There were children’s activities, they had interests. It would be ungrateful, unscrupulousto say there wasnt anything good. The children in that neighborhood were in enthusiasm. I can say something nice was happening. Unfortunately, these activities stopped after that period and many people moved their homes from Sur. I mean, for example, I can’t recognize Sur right now. In other words, the Sur people left, and other people were settled in its place. It affected both the mother tongue and the communication and that envirenment, so you could go to a house and sit, you could speak. You could chat with families, but not now. So even when someone go, for example, they immediately report them, that’s the trouble. “E5 “For example, the classes in the courses opened in the 2012-2015 period were overcrowded, and all the people sent their children to Kurdish language courses. With the beginning of these conflicts and the change in the political climate, it was placed in the minds of people that even speaking Kurdish was an political attitude in quotation marks, and they attacked people when they speak Kurdish, people imprisoned Kurdish in the house, as in

the nineties that we were told about. But this time, they stopped speaking IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Kurdish with their children in the house too, and they refrained from speaking Kurdish. “STÖ7 ANALYSIS IN CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO LIVE THEIR OWN CULTURE AND TO USE THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

As a result of our study in the field, we reached the following conclusions in terms of children’s right to live their own culture and to use their own language: In Diyarbakır, • . Children whose mother tongue is Kurdish speak Turkish throughout their lives. Compared to adult participants, the children know and speak Kurdish much less. • The constant exposure of children to Turkish at school, in the environment of friends and on television causes confusion and negatively affects their use of their mother tongue. • According to the observations of adults about social and individual traumas related to mother tongue cause children not to prefer Kurdish. Speaking Kurdish scares, raise anxiety, embarrass and marginalize children. • Children think that speaking Kurdish is forbidden, they cannot express themselves comfortably in their mother tongue. • When children are supported, they make individual efforts to speak and learn their mother tongue, and are excited and happy to participate in activities in their mother tongue.

31 • Children who speak Kurdish speak Kurdish with their friends outside of class and play their games in Kurdish. A healthier communication is established between teachers who speak Kurdish and parents. • Recent events, especially the conflict process and trustee intervention, built an obstacle to the right of children to live their own culture and to use their mother tongue. As a result, Kurdish children living in Diyarbakır are deprived of living their culture and using their mother tongue with the other members of the community they belong to. We would like to point out that our finding that children know and speak Kurdish less than adults, this is compatible with the previous studies which prove the loss in using Kurdish17. Although parents whose children do not speak Kurdish feel responsible18 and self-critical, it is not possible19. to ignore both the state’s obligation their support for families and the impact of the conflicted political climate in this loss. Our monitoring study also proves that discriminatory perspectives and practices keep children away from their mother tongue day by day by making the effects of the political process visible. However, the Kurdish children’s ability to preserve and advance their own culture depends only on the existence of Kurdish, which is an indispensable element of their culture. For all these reasons the reservations in UNCRC which causes irreparable effects on children in terms of living their culture and using mother tongue must be removed. there must be some politics for children accessing their rights.

17- The report of using mother tongue in education and the right of Bilingual education by Eğitim Sen ( trade union of educaters) (2010). https://app.trdizin.gov.tr/publication/paper/TVRNMU1URTRPQT09detail/ 18- Diyarbakir Institute for Political and Social Research Institute, published by Hemant Coates, M. Şerif Derince and Nesrin Language Wound carried out by the Edge they use the mother tongue in education and the Kurdish problem in Turkey Experiences of Students (2010). Research Findings of the State of the Mother Tongue Among Parents conducted by Rawest Research (2019).

32 A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Teaching Mother Tongue

33 TEACHING MOTHER TONGUE

The right to “use one’s own language” included20 .in Article 30 of the UNCRC includes positive measures for teaching children their mother tongue in schools. However, stated in Article 42 of the Constitution, “No language other than Turkish can be taught and taught to Turkish citizens as their mother tongue in education and training institutions.” We understand that it forbidden with this legislation in Turkey. However, we can say21 that Kurdish, which cannot be taught to children as a mother tongue, is included in the curriculum with the “Living Languages and Dialects” optional course in secondary education institutions by the Ministry of National Education in accordance with the Law on Primary Education and Education Law No.6287

Within the extent of this course, it was possible to give the Zazaki and Kurmanji dialects of Kurdish for 2 hours a week upon the request of at least 10 students starting from the 2012-2013 academic year. In order to follow the responsibilities of the state in teaching the mother tongue, we asked various questions to the participants within the scope of this course. 9 of the 20 children we interviewed said they were unaware of the existence of such a course: “How so, optional lesson? I didnt know.” Ç1 “I didn’t know that we have alternative to choose Kurdish as a lesson. If I have that choice of course I would like to choose it, I want to hear Kurdish in school.” Ç3 7 of 11 children who know the Living Languages and Dialects Lesson stated that they could not take the lesson although they wanted to choose this lesson, or that the lesson was not actually given although they chose it, and they did not know the reason for this: “We had Kurdish lesson only once. We just learned numbers and daily things like how are you, are you fina etc. And then the break bell rang. We have never seen that lesson since then..” Ç4 “All students in my class chose Kurdish as a lesson but they said there was no teacher or wasnt assigned. The first term was like that but in the second term they chose the optinal lesson by themselves. It was very dissapointing. They chose without consulting us..” Ç15 “We always chose, but wee’v never seen it. We chose one year, about 300, 400 books had come. But they were not distributed, they did not give the lesson. I do not know the reason.”Ç20

20- Indigenous Children and Their Rights Under the Convention, General Comment No: 11 (2009) 21- With the circular number 12668 and number 2012/37 published by the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Basic Education on 31 August 2012, starting from the 2012-2013 academic year, all official and private secondary schools and imam hatip secondary schools under the Ministry of Education Since then, Living Languages and Dialects Course has been taught as an elective course.

34 Only 2 of the 20 children we interviewed stated that they can choose the Living Languages and Dialects course and continue, they are happy to have lessons in their mother tongue and they want the course to continue: We had it in the middle school, I chose it. We had book also, it was called Kurmanji. It was a nice and funny lesson. I mean it was nice, people could learn Kurdish a little better there.” Ç8 “It was good, I would be happy if if continued, I could learn more.” Ç10 In a way to prove the information given by the children, half of the parents we interviewed said that they did not have knowledge of Kurdish optional lessons: “No, they’ve never göne. There is nothing like that in Sur sister.” E2 “Something like that happened recently. My daughter said father ‘has it happened or not, is there not? “I don’t know right now,” said the father. He said if the optional lesson in the school is in Kurdish, I will, “he said,” I will

approve. “ I said, “My daughter would be great.” But it’s okay, I don’t know IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO that” E4 The other half of the parents we interviewed said that the right of Kurdish lesson was just left on paper.There was no budget and staff for educators. The parents who wanted to choose Kurdish were canalized to choose religious courses: “He hasnt learn anything. It is the same, so he did not learn Kurdish properly. I guess it’s 1 hour a week, it’s a year.” E3 “There was optional lesson but there was no demand for it and the instructor couldnt be found, thats why it wasnt continued. There is still in some schools. Enough budget hasnt been allocated for it. There was only the teaching of the alphabet and some words. Books were not enough.” E6 “Symbolic. On the one hand, due to the lack of sufficient staff and teachers in Kurdish and the fact that the lesson was not chosen, the children who chose Kurdish were also deprived of this. Unfortunately, the following policy is carried out here: Especially school administrations; Religious culture teachers, imams and some unions try to direct people to optional courses on the life of the prophet and the Qur’an. They use the religious sensibilities of that conservative part and try to remove them beforehand, imposing them as a choice..” E7 “There was before, but not now. Last year, my sister’s son asked for an optional course in Kurdish in Istanbul, she said, you can choose Arabic, but there is no such language as Kurdish.” E10 Educators, local administrators and representatives of non-governmental organizations shared the data supporting the data we received from children and parents and explained that these lessons could not be given for a long time. The themes frequently repeated in these interviews were the

35 inadequacy of the course-related materials, the unsuitability of the books to the level of children who could speak Kurdish, the lack of qualified teachers to teach the course, and the fact that the course was made unselectable by directing the children to other optional courses, especially religious courses: “Conscious families make their children choose, But on the other hand you cant say that I want to choose this course in school. There is an appearent pressure about this issue in schools. Lets say they choose, there are shortage of materials ( is it free or not) and teachers. Lets say there are 100 schools in Diyarbakır, there arent 100 assigned Kurdish teachers in Turkey. When there are no teachers of Zazaki or Kurmanci, they direct students to German or PE lessons. Kurdish lesson is just in the main universities. If you want to give education in the mother tongue, you should prepare the background.” STÖ10 “Administrators direct more to lessons such as Let’s Learn Our Religion, Siyer, The Life of the Prophet. I heard that the students already have no teachers;” E5 “The children already know most of the things described. For example, I attended their lesson. Even though my native language is Zaza, I tried to explain it in Kurdish, but since I was not as good as them, I did not contribute to them. They contributed a lot to me. Since there werent any language teacher, even someone who did not know Kurdish could attend Kurdish lessons. There was actually a shortage of teachers there”. Ö2 “It’s a good book based on teaching a foreign language, but not a book that will teach a child in their native language. It is a book equipped with some formations required by the traditional official ideology, in other words, there are very militarist nationalist discourses.” Y1 The teachers we interviewed shared the above-mentioned problems as well as the solutions they found in their Kurdish lessons. It was quite meaningful to see the extent of teachers’ personal efforts in this reporting study, in which we monitor the obligations of the state: “It was second term when the books were delivered. Until that we we tried to find ways to find solutions with friends. Firstly, we brought audio system to the classes and we copied the books and delivered to students. We sometimes gave them homework. We copied the pdf of optional course’s book and we delievered because we had just 20 books..” Y1

“I was trying to make the lesson more active by making photocopies from other sources. I was distributing dictionaries to each child, I also distribute Kurdish lyrics. I tried to make the lesson a little more attractive with a little more different materials..” E3

36 “If you want materials from parents or students, it may cause trouble, so you have to find materials by yourself.” Ö6 THE EFFECTS OF THE POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS ON TEACHING CHILDREN’S MOTHER TONGUE

As we mentioned in other parts of the report, we would like to mention how the events of the last 10 years have been reflected in the teaching of Kurdish in educational institutions. Participants emphasized the importance of teaching the mother tongue in public education for Kurds. However, they explained that these gains obtained after the end of the solution process had a regression especially after the emergency situation, and that this was seen in many dimensions from the choice of course to the content of the materials: IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO “It was 2014, I dont know whether it was a peace process or a hallucination or a dream. Whatever it was, it has lots of effects on people. People demanded Kurdish lesson for their children, we had 3 classes in National Education Ministry’s place. We were 3 friends who were giving Kurdish lesson and we were having lots of fun..” Y1 “When the textbook was first released in 2012-2013 it was of high quality, but those teachers were fired. During 2015-2016 the book was changed. The book was editted and published by some other people so that the quality of the book decreased. I can say that the quality of the state’s book which is used in school decreased after 2015-2016. I followed the editions thats why i know their situation. For example, the roles have changed, the role of the woman, the role of the man, and then such simplicity surfaced in the texts. Here, in living languages and dialects, publications were more accessible and quality in the years 2012 when they said that our children can choose Kurdish at least for 2 lessons in schools, even though the technology was not so developed at that time. “Ö3 “.While there were more students in the past years, it is less in recent years. While at first it was left to parents to choose, in recent years, schools have made certain courses compulsory, although it has not been regulated in recent years. While selecting nearly 400 students in 2015, now it seems that only one class has been chosen. National Education Ministry has a book, it cannot be used much because different sources can cause official problems.” Ö4

37 ANALYSIS IN TEACHING IN THE MOTHER TONGUE

As a result of our field work, we reached the following conclusions in terms of teaching in the mother tongue: In Diyarbakır, • It is not known by many children and their families that optional courses in Kurmanji and Zazaki are given within the content of Living Languages and Dialects. • Children who have knowledge of optional courses cannot access Kurdish lessons due to reasons such as the lack of teachers to teach the course, the lesson not being opened because 10 people did not choose it, and the school administration directing families to other elective courses with religious content. • The lesson cannot ensure that children are taught Kurdish in a qualified way: Lesson materials are lack, the contents are not suitable for children, the level of the lesson does not meet the needs of the children, branch teachers are not assisgned, and teachers who do not have language proficiency can be assigned for the lesson. • The children want to learn their mother tongue at school, but the lesson does not meet the children’s demands for education in Kurdish. • Although teaching in Kurdish in schools is an important achievement but the effects of the conflict in 2015 and assignin trustees became an obstacle for children to access the lesson. It also affected the choosing the lesson and materials. As a result, children’s rights to learn their mother tongue are violated in Diyarbakır. However, the period of the National Education Minister Ömer Dinçer “If Turkey is in a such democratic position and you makes your system flexible What drawbacks people to choose Kurdish optional courses?22 Saying Kurdish elective courses that gave the first signals, was announced on June 12, 201223. Making a statement after the course was included in the curriculum, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç stated that the policies of rejection - denial was an issue of the past, they were trying to train teachers for the Kurdish elective course and that they commissioned the Turkish Language Association to prepare a comprehensive Turkish-Kurdish dictionary24. At the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year, when the course was given for the first time, public criticism was directed towards the inclusion

22- https://www.milliyet.com.tr/egitim/kurtce-nin-secimlik-ders-olmasinin-ne-mahsuru-var-1514361 23- https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/politika/kurtce-secmeli-ders/362353 24- https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/arinctan-tdkya-talimat-1603740 25- http://www.baskahaber.org/2012/09/yasayan-diller-ve-lehceler-secmeli.html 26- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d24/7/7-15927sgc.pdf 27- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d26/7/7-23228s.pdf 28- https://www.evrensel.net/haber/386372/sectirilmeyen-secmeli-ders-kurtce

38 of the course in the curriculum before the necessary preparations were completed, the lack of knowledge of the families, the uncertainty about the teachers who would give the course, and the lack of the textbook25. During this period, a total of 18,847 students in 28 provinces, mostly from Diyarbakır, chose the courses in which Kurmanci and Zazaki will be taught26. In the following years, with the effect of the peace process, the number of students in the course reached 53 thousand in 2013-2014, and in the first semester of 2014-2015 academic year, it increased to 45 percent compared to the previous year and reached to 85 thousand27. In the 2015 - 2016 education period, 77.931 students chose optional Kurdish course as we saw in the press, but after the peace process and in the emergency situation there is a remarkable decrease in choosing Kurdish28. According to the written question submitted by the Ministry of National Education (MEB), the total number of students who chose Kurdish (Kurmanji and Zazaki) in both semesters in secondary schools, including private schools throughout Turkey, was 21,327 in the 2016-2017 academic year; 19,813 in 2017- 2018; It dropped to 12,947 in 2018-201929. A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Because it is difficult to access to the right of education due to the pandemic process, no data shared about the years 2019-2020. When we requested the numbers of students who choosed Kurdish for our observation study, they didn’t share any information with us.30. Another situation that overlaps with our field study findings was the low number of teachers: According to MEB data, the number of teachers appointed for this course in both Kurmanji and Zazaki languages was like this 17 in 2014, 21 in 2015, 20 in 2016, 99 in 201731 32. According to the data announced as of 20.03.2020, the current number of teachers working in Turkish and foreign language fields in official education institutions is 135.572; The number of teachers working in official educational institutions in the Living Languages and Dialects course, Zazaki-Kurmanji fields were 86, and it was stated that only 3 universities took part in the Kurdish Language and Literature Program33. According to the latest statement, as of 06.10.2020,121 teachers were appointed in total, 21 in the Zazaki field and 100 in the Kurmanci field34. It was announced that the appointments were made according to the needs, taking into account the occupancy rates of the staff, and the occupancy rates in the areas that are needed, primarily the regions that have difficulties in teacher employment, and which have priority in development36.

29- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-16187c.pdf 30- Our application numbered 2100993578, which we made to the Presidency Communication Center (CİMER) on 26.02.2021, was answered by the Strategy Development Directorate on 01.03.2021. 31- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d26/7/7-1468sgc.pdf 31- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d26/7/7-16742sgc.pdf 33- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-25887sgc.pdf 34- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-29562sgc.pdf 35- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-16374c.pdf 36- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-34775sgc.pdf

39 Our field findings regarding the lack of material were also supported by the answer given to the question asked to the Ministry of National Education, since the dictionaries, which were published as 50 thousand copies by the TDK in May 2014, were not delivered to students who chose the course after 2 years, the Ministry didnt even buy Kurdish-Turkish / Turkish-Kurdish dictionary37. Thus, with our findings from both field and desk research, very few teachers assigned for the Kurdish field of Living Languages and Dialects among all language teachers, the scarcity of teachers and institutions where they get education, the lack of materials have been proven, and the obstacles faced by children whose mother tongue is Kurdish in accessing these courses have been identified. However, the UNCRC and other international texts emphasize their positive obligations saying that states must take measures to ensure that people’s belonging to minorities learn their mother tongue38. Because the teaching of Kurdish as a lesson in school makes it possible for children whose mother tongue is Kurdish to preserve and develop their language, and to maintain tolerance and respect in society in terms of children whose mother tongue is not Kurdish39. The abolition of the reservations made to the 29th and 30th articles of the UNCRC and the prohibition on teaching the mother tongue in the 42nd article of the Constitution is the most important steps to be taken, considering the necessity of teaching the mother tongue in order to use cultural rights. Considering the views and demands of children and other participants on education in Kurdish, the state must take the necessary measures to complete the infrastructure deficiencies of this course, remove the obstacles to be selected and deliver it to children. Reminding that learning the mother tongue and the use of mother tongue in education are different concepts, we move on to our findings regarding the right to education in the mother tongue.

37- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d26/7/7-2604sgc.pdf 38- UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 39- Indigenous Children and Their Rights Under the Convention, General Comment No: 11 (2009), Article 27.

40 Using IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Mother Tongue in Education

41 USING MOTHER TONGUE IN EDUCATION The right to education in mother tongue and the right of different cultural groups to establish their own educational institutions and facilities were an important part of our observing study, as these rights, which are directly linked to Articles 29 and 30 of the UNCRC, affirm profound consequences for the lives of children and it points to one of the areas where it has been violated. With the Law No.6529 on the Promotion of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, known as the Democratization Package, the opening of schools providing education in Kurdish gained a legal basis. In accordance with the LAw on the 2nd article of the Language Education and Teaching of Foreigners and the Learning of Different Languages and Dialects of Turkish Citizens, “Private Education Institutions Law,” a private school can be opened to give education on different languages to Turkish citizens. Subject to the provisions of the Law on Private Education Institutions, private schools can be established in order to provide education in different languages and dialects traditionally used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives. The languages and dialects to be educated and taught in these institutions are determined by the decision of the Council of Ministers. The principles and procedures regarding the opening and supervision of these institutions are regulated by a regulation issued by the Ministry of National Education. In the justification of the law, it was pointed out that, in accordance with Article 42 of the Constitution, the obligation to provide education to all citizens equally and that the right to education is a positive right. In this context, it was emphasized that while private courses could be opened in order to teach different languages and dialects spoken traditionally in Turkey, the obstacle before opening private education institutions should be removed according to the needs of the day, taking into account social demands and developments. In July 2014, according to Article 49 of the Ministry of National Education Regulation on Private Education Institutions, it was stated that Turkish citizens, who were determined by the President’s decision, could be educated in different languages and dialects traditionally used in their daily lives in private schools, and the courses to be taught in different languages and dialects in these schools will be determined by the Ministry. According to the level of the school, the provision that the courses and curriculums approved by the Ministry and weekly course distribution schedules will be applied was added. Apart from these regulations involving private education institutions, no legal change has been made regarding the recognition of mother tongue rights in public education. Within the extent of our study, we asked various questions to the participants in order to follow the obligations of the state within the extent of the right to education in mother tongue regulated in international conventions, especially the 29th article of UNCRC. Among the parents we interviewed, there were

42 only 2 people whose children attended schools teaching in Kurdish. 4 of the parents said that they have never been aware of those schools: “I didnt know. I would gladly send to the course if I knew.” E1 “I have never seen or heard something like that.” E2 “I don’t know, I haven’t heard it from a relative or a neighbour.” E12 Parents who have knowledge of schools providing education in Kurdish, explain the reasons for their children not being able to attend these schools; They explained that schools were closed, there were no schools in their regions, schools could not be opened due to bureaucratic reasons, and there were no schools providing education suitable for the age group of their children: “Actually I was very proud of it. I wanted to send but then it closed as you know..” E4 “We requested. We talked to the Mayor.We asked if we can do something

like this here.So it didn’t happen, you know bureaucracy. Actually it is IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO something should be but practice is troubled.I would sendi f there was.” E5 “At the age of 16, there was no such place in his time. In other words, he would have liked it if it was in an accessible place. But how could he want something he didn’t know he lived through.” E8 It was stated that the examination system in Turkey prevents children from going to these schools, as are the parents who say that they cannot send their children to Kurdish schools, which can only be opened by private educational institutions, due to poverty: “Of course I would send, but we can’t effort it.” E2 “We can not send in Turkey’s conditions, because the exams are Turkish, all the system is Turkish.” E6 In our observation study, we reached out to educators, local government representatives and school founders who worked in kindergartens and schools providing education in Kurdish in order to reach comprehensive findings. We asked these people about the processes of opening / closing schools, teacher selection and curriculum determination, the incentives and difficulties they faced, and the impact of education in Kurdish on children. The founders of the school stated that the first reactions they received when they were opened were very positive, that these schools were seen as a need, but they could serve a certain social group because they were private schools: “Generally, people look with envy. Everyone says that they actually want to send their child to us, but sometimes they don’t have opportunities. So it seems like a need, maybe. The parents who come to us are actually a certain group, so when the economic income from the neighborhood is lower, children lack many things..” O1

43 “The right to education in mother tongue is something I have always defended. It might be considered symbolic, but it had to be done. This is a private school, of course, it is paid, so private schools have a concern. They wonder how the State react if they do something like this. They have concern like having trouble. I didn’t have such concerns.” O2 Adult participants with experience in institutions providing education in Kurdish stated that they did not receive any incentives from the state during these activities, their resources were insufficient for the continuation of the service, they could not keep up with payments such as rent, bills, insurance, taxes, salaries, they were able to continue their education with volunteer teachers, and that children received support from their families: “They don’t give financial support, there were 63 employees, 50 instructors, 15 staff. We couldnt run it with the expenses of the employee’s insurance payment, taxes and other expenses.” O2 “There has been a lot of moral support from the people. Once I never forget, mothers came. If you encounter any difficulties, call us, they said, we will come for you and we will be with you, not for our only children. They have been very supportive to us.” Y3 “Turkey does not have any support for kindergartens anyway. We could only convert with the fee paid by the families. We teachers didnt get a salary. Because we could only pay the rent, the kitchen, the bills. We ran this business for about 5 years without even paying our own pocket money.” STÖ9 “There was no electricity, the children were coming in the morning, they were at the institution until the evening. Food had to be given to the children, sometimes parents were bringing food from home, sometimes we were preparing for them. Y3 As there was no mention of an incentive given by the state to schools providing education in Kurdish, the intensity of the difficulties experienced was reflected in the talks. The themes of marginalization, exclusion, and intimidation came to the fore with regard to the institutions providing education in Kurdish, as in the whole of the monitoring study. Legal obstacles, inspections, police intervention, and threats of punishment were among those experienced: ‘’It is a very sacred work for educators to try to connect with children in that language with their own efforts. Because there is no possibility of any kind that is prevented from demand,’’ “When you want to open a Kurdish school in Diyarbakır, you should not face these difficulties, and that person should not go to prison because he thinks about it. This is my mother tongue, there may not be any politics behind this, I may not have a political opinion. But can I easily make a place in my native language?” Y2

44 “We had a lot of difficulty. While coming to the school in the morning, we were being waited by 2 securities, they claimed to protect us. We wanted them to stay away because it will be better for children. the parents whose children were coming from State’s school were being thereatened. They warned parents to send children back to state school...” Y3 “Legal restrictions are already too many, when they came to the nursery for inspection, they said ‘There is a banned publication when they found the slightest Kurdish article and they were punished, they had such pressures on us.” STÖ9 “We are often subjected to psychological pressure or something. Maybe he has no such right, but when he comes, you are an official working in the public sector and you are subject to the psychological pressure and sanctions of this, in this case you are hesitant against them.” O1 Stating that they are trying to develop a model based on child development and participation in Kurdish education schools, the participants stated that they had difficulty in accessing teachers’ resources, they gave Kurdish

lessons in addition to the national education curriculum, they were based IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO on multilingual education, that Kurdish books used as educational materials were prepared by voluntary commissions and with the efforts of teachers. They reported that it was created : “There are very few people who know pedagogy and have worked for children who speak Kurdish. It is very difficult to reach them. We have never received support for children from a facilitator. As Kurdish as a Kurd, we have not received education from anyone suitable for our own culture, we could not reach these people. Obviously, it was a very difficult process. Because everything was on our shoulders.” STÖ9 “Our priority is to play games with the mother tongue in this field where the child can feel comfortable, to learn his own culture and songs, to learn rhymes and riddles. For example, the stories in our culture were transferred to the children in a way appropriate to the children’s level, and they were experienced together with the children. Our pedagogically correct resources have never been something that has been destroyed, they have not been continued. As teachers, we have to do our own research mostly, there is too much resource.” Y2 “It was all in Kurdish. There was a commission, pedagogues and scholars were among those who did this work without expecting anything in return. The books for geography, mathematics, and all courses from first grade to fifth grade were prepared by the commission and all were prepared in Kurdish.” Y3 “The whole curriculum is the curriculum of national education, we were applying it, in addition, we were giving lessons in Kurdish. We are for a multilingual education program. We do not put Turkish aside. English is the language of the future, in other words, it is the language of literature and the language of the world. Kurdish is the language of our mother, father, environment and the people of our region, into which we were born, and it has suffered a great injustice...” O2

45 “Our main perspective is that children will be educated in their native language. If their mother tongue is Kurmanji, they will learn Zazaki with them. They were also taking it in English education. That’s why mother tongue-based multilingual education. In other words, children were supported by education in their mother tongue and other languages in order to contribute to their mental thinking.” Y1 THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION ON CHILDREN When asked about the impact of education in the mother tongue on children, the most emphasized concepts by parents were desire, happiness, freedom and self-confidence. The ability of children to express themselves and the bond and belonging they establish with their schools were also repeatedly expressed: “He was going willingly and successfully. He saw himself happier and more relax. Because Children’s rights were given importance there. There was a child-centered system that emphasized the rights that put children at the center. Children even named it.” E7 “My brother’s children go to Turkish school and my children go to Kurdish one. When we meet people, I observe that my children are more active, more self-expressive, more sociable. When my children say that they go to private Kurdish school, people are surprized. Ans they ask if there is a Kurdish school.” E10 Adult participants, who have experience with institutions providing education in Kurdish, explained the impact of education in their mother tongue on children with themes such as happiness, excitement, freedom, self-confidence, and emphasized the very positive aspects in terms of school success, bonding and social relations.. “After the schools were closed, the children went to public school. After 1-2 months, they learned Turkish and became the most successful students of the class. The teachers appreciated the good understanding of the children and were very surprised. Love and learning have an impact on all matters.” Y3 “In both environments, when children grow up with their own language, they are already incredibly intelligent and self-confident, but when they are missing somewhere, there are children who are not self-confident and cannot express themselves.” STÖ9 “He can identify the songs with the stories his grandfathers tell and give his feedback immediately ‘I heard this at Mamoste first house, and this is how my grandfather told him, I told him this way”. This is when we look at child psychology, we can see that the child also reinforces, improves the ability to build relationships, bonds, and add and interpret things on top of it.” STÖ1

46 “He can speak his own language at school, just like he talks to his mother. I have personally experienced how children can adapt, have a more color on their faces, and how beneficial education is for children in their mother tongue. I have watched for a while that children progress towards self- confidence, development, bonding with life, and becoming very social people at work.” Ö3 THE EFFECTS OF THE POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS ON CHILDREN’S MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION Adult participants stated that schools providing education in Kurdish were closed with decrees after the 2016 state of emergency, some institutions were

reopened with decrees, unfair decisions were encountered in legal processes IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO regarding the closure process, private institutions were not preferred due to the fact that the conflict period brought immigration and poverty to the people of the region, They explained that after the appointment of trustees, the institutions were intervened and the teachers were dismissed, the structure of the education was changed, and all these processes prevented children from accessing schools providing education in Kurdish: “After the intervention of the trustees, the change of the content, the dismissal of some teachers, we had to enroll in the public school.” E7 “We were in the first position in the region, then we were among the foundations, universities, hospitals, associations and private schools in 1800 jobs that were closed after these coup attempts. All of these shutdowns happened under the name of Feto. But they put everyone who oppose to the system in the same bag. Later, of course, we opened with another decree, but we got a big injury there. Then other factors came into play. Private schooling has increased rather than the limit, Diyarbakır has become a little poorer after the trench incidents, there has been immigration and, let’s say, it has weakened economically a few degrees. After all, unfortunately, we had to take a break this year when this pandemic came on top of it.” O2 Adult interviewers stated that the closure of institutions providing education in Kurdish had a negative impact on children psychologically. It was stated that the children could not understand why their schools were closed, they could not access the correct information about the process, they witnessed the intervention regarding the closure, and the pressure environment continued after the schools were closed: “The children were very impressed in every way. Where did my school go suddenly? The families said something to their children, they said that their school was flooded, and the place was broken. When the child grows up or passes by the school or something, he says something. The child cannot

47 establish that connection. Why did I go from that school all of a sudden? What was the reason? There are so many things with a deeper back.” O1 “As soon as the children were at the school, it was pressured and closed with tanks and panzers. We got up in the morning, we got up, we were beaten, we did this, we did this. Our children are witnesses to them. A banned language is a prohibited people. My son’s psychology broke down, he was trying to break that lock by taking the thing with an iron. The state has made such a pressure that there is no dust and smoke. Cops were sending to families’ homes. These pressures every day. My kids are eating their hands and taking them to a psychologist all the time.” E10 ANALYSIS IN THE RIGHTS IN EDUCATION IN MOTHER TONGUE As a result of our field work, we reached the following conclusions in terms of education rights in mother tongue: In Diyarbakır, • Schools providing education in Kurdish and related legal regulations are not known enough. • Since education in Kurdish can be given legally by private schools, only children from a certain income class can benefit from this right; the law excludes poor children. • The closure of schools providing education in Kurdish, the absence of schools in every district, the limited age group in which schools provide education, high school and university entrance exams; it is an obstacle for children to be able to attend Kurdish education institutions. • There is no incentive provided by the state to these schools, and the institutions’ own resources are not sufficient for the continuity of the service. While there are limitations in many subjects from teachers to course materials, schools can only receive support from volunteers and families. • The demands and efforts of education in mother tongue cause educators to be subjected to intense pressure. • The effects of the state of emergency, trustees, and the conflict process cause schools to be closed down and the fact that they are unable to continue their education, as well as traumatizing children. • Education in mother tongue makes it possible for children to feel happy and confident, to express themselves comfortably, to connect with their culture and to be more successful academically. As a result, the legal regulations introduced in 2014 do not ensure that children in Diyarbakır have access to education rights in their mother tongue; The state violates the positive obligation of children from different cultural groups to receive education in their own culture and mother tongue and to have access to educational institutions and facilities opened by these groups. While education in the mother tongue is one of the indispensable demands for the Kurds, when we consider the last 10 years of the struggle to reach this right, the 1-week-long Kurdish Language Research, Development and Education Movement (Tevgera Ziman û Perwerdehiya Kurdî - TZPKurdî) supported by the Peace and Democracy Party became one of the samples

48 with the school boycotts.40 With the initiation of the peace process, in September 2013, the first statement regarding Kurdish schools within the extent of the “Democratization Package” was made41. In March 2014, while education in Kurdish was legalized in private schools, in September of the same year the schools that were opened to provide education in Kurdish were sealed and closed; Related to this, Deputy Prime Minister and Government Spokesperson Bülent Arınç said, “The bricks were placed on top of each other in one place and it is said that this place will be a Kurdish education school. This is a work directed towards propaganda and provocation. “ He stated that schools are providing education illegally without application42. At the time, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ claimed that the law enabling education in Kurdish was a historic step for Turkey, and this process was provoked by roadblocking, kidnapping, and burning vehicles43. While the schools that were closed are struggling to continue their education, many people, including children, were detained and an investigation was started against them44. The process of shutting down institutions providing education in Kurdish continued in the following days. For example, the school, which provided IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO education to 60 students in Diyarbakır Kayapınar district, was sealed by the Diyarbakır Police Department, saying that the governor’s decision was fulfilled45. According to the news reflected in the press, it was stated that the school was closed on February 18, 2016, by the Directorate of National Education on October 27, 2015, but the school was closed on the grounds that it was not allowed while the educational activities were continuing, despite this decision to close, the students had a class in the school yard46 47. Decrees48 issued within the scope of the state of emergency declared after the coup attempt on 15 July 2016 and trustees appointed to municipalities in 2019 also intervened against institutions providing education in Kurdish49. All this information we accessed through media scanning has content that supports our field findings. However, the statements of the people we interviewed go one step further than the data we obtained through media scanning and prove how the violations of rights have a negative impact on the lives of children. In order to access the most up-to-date information, the answers given by the MEB General Directorate of Private Education Institutions to our application for obtaining information about Kurdish schools that can be opened within the scope of the Regulation on Private Education Institutions also need an analysis within the framework of our field findings.50:

40- https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/bdp-okul-boykotuna-destek-verdi-15819704 41- https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/demokratiklesme-paketi-aciklandi/214907 42- https://bianet.org/bianet/insan-haklari/158530-kurtce-okullarin-ucu-de-muhurlendi 43- http://www.gazetevatan.com/izin-isteyen-olursa-kurtce-okul-acabilir--678613-gundem/ 44- https://www.milliyet.com.tr/yerel-haberler/diyarbakir/ayni-okul-3uncu-kez-muhurlenip-acildi-10386242 45- https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/kurtce-egitim-veren-okul-kapatildi-484977 46- https://www.evrensel.net/haber/273833/bahcede-ders-basi 47- https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2016/gundem/aihme-kurtce-basvuru-1172338/ 48- https://t24.com.tr/haber/khklar-kurtce-dil-ogreten-okullari-ve-dernekleri-vurdu,374790 49- https://odatv4.com/cocuklar-kresteyken-bu-yapilir-mi-30051954.html 50- The answer is given by the General Directorate of Private Education Institutions on 26.02.2021 to our application numbered 2100875878 to the Presidency Communication Center (Cimer) on 19.02.2021 49 We asked the Ministry about the budget allocated to these schools, the incentives provided and the promotional activities because in our desk research we could not find concrete data on the measures taken by the state regarding the right to education in the mother tongue and the efforts made to realize this right. In the reply, it was stated that there is no allowance for private schools from the Ministry’s budget other than education support for students, all expenses and financing are covered by the people who will open the institution, the legislation provisions are an announcement for the relevant persons and the Ministry is only granted a business and working license. Taken together with our field findings, these responses confirm that although the state legally makes it possible to open a Kurdish education institution, it does not take measures to remove the obstacles to the access of children to this right. During our field work, we asked the Ministry about the number of schools that currently offer education in Kurdish and have been closed, after we found out that Kurdish-language schools were no longer able to provide education. The Ministry responded that “although the necessary regulations have been made in the relevant legislation, there is no school that provides education and training in different languages and dialects traditionally used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives.” And it was like and “There is no institution that has been closed since there is no school opened from the mentioned institutions since 2014” With this answer, the findings of the participants who talked about the obstacles created by the legal processes were confirmed. Although the Ministry stated that a school providing education in Kurdish has not been opened, we have identified institutions that have started educational activities in the field. This shows that the schools were opened and subsequently closed before the permit procedures were completed, or that there were no records for these schools. It is important to recall that in its 2012 Concluding Observations on Turkey, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that the lack of education in languages other than minority-recognized languages in Turkey causes educational disadvantages for children who are not recognized as minorities and whose mother tongue is not Turkish and will monitor access to education. He had recommended to put in place a comprehensive system. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also stated in the 2016 Concluding Observations that it is concerned about the reports of Kurdish children’s limited access to education, including their mother tongue, and suggested improving Kurdish children’s access to schools, including by encouraging teaching in their mother tongue. Considering the explanations, the reservations to the 29th and 30th articles of the UNCRC should be lifted, international conventions regulating the right to education in their mother tongue should be signed, the Constitution should be amended to ensure that children have access to education in their mother tongue, the regulation on the provision of education in their mother tongue in private institutions should be expanded, the state support to private institutions The use of mother tongue in public education should be legally secured.

50 Children’s Access IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO to Media Products in Mother Tongue

51 CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO MEDIA PRODUCTS IN MOTHER TONGUE The media has a special importance in meeting the needs of children regarding their mother tongue. In its General Comment No. 11, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child emphasizes the need for access to information in their own language so that indigenous children can effectively exercise their right to be heard. Therefore, within the extent of our study, we wanted to monitor the obligation of the state regarding the media in accordance with subparagraph d of the 17th article of the UNCRC. In our study, we asked questions about the right to access media products like tv, newspapers, magazines, online platforms, books, radio, etc. Many of the children we interviewed did not know Kurdish at the literacy level, so they did not have access to Kurdish books. The children who knew Kurdish stated that they had limited access to books and that they could not find books in Kurdish in bookstores. Children could only access these books with the support of their families. In addition to children who said they had difficulty reading books, there were also children who saw books as an important means of keeping their culture alive: “My sisters are interested in magazines and book, sp they bring. But they sometimes can’t find Kurdish ones.’’ Ç3 “Actually, I have books but they are not easy, they are difficult.” Ç10 “There is hardly any Kurdish book, so few. So, I have read nearly all books of Mehmed Uzun51, he comes from our origin.” Ç20 “I have never seen. But I suppose there was a Kurdish dictionary, I saw. I just know it. There are original Kurds who makes their language live, its good.” Ç8 While the parents supported the findings we received from the children, they said that there are no Kurdish books in their homes; Those who reached the books in Kurdish stated that their children could not read these books because they did not know Kurdish at the literacy level. A parent whose child attends a school in Kurdish said that he could access the Kurdish book through school: “I have brought books but because the contents were Kurdish, children couldn’t read and understand...” E5 “Whether it is media products, television or internet, we deal with Kurdish. Coming to the book, it would be a lie to say that there are many Kurdish books at home, of course we would like it to be at home, but you know that there are not many Kurdish books.” E12 “School already gives them; we cannot get them. Because they are in Kurdish, they are not available everywhere.” E9

51- Symbol writer of modern Kurdish literatüre.

52 The teachers we interviewed; They explained that Kurdish books and other written publications were very limited, children were not supported in accessing them, that Kurdish publications did not attract the attention of the child in view of the dominant language being Turkish, that they were not internalized by children, and that the inability of Kurdish literature to reach children was a cultural loss: “We bring them together with children, but they don’t internalize it very much. Ninety percent of the dominant language is Turkish. I think there is nothing attractive to children. I mean, it exists in terms of music, but when we think about the spoken literature of such old Shavbek people, there is not much left to reach children, let alone written literature. I’m a bit pessimistic in that respect. I think our children are losing this richness more and more every year. So, I’m telling with pity.” Ö3 “Now there is access to the digital area, but they have difficulties because it does not exist. I do not come across it often in stores with normal book magazines, either. The main thing to ask is, are children supported at this point? There is no book or something similar, unfortunately, there is a problem. We can say that a coloring book is not in Kurdish, or what is at IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO work is unknown, there is difficulty.” Ö1 “As far as I know the products like story books of children with pictures and writing aren’t sold so many.” Ö5 “If parents support, they can access. I mean it totally depends on the children’s family, their economy and the environment.” Ö6 Within the content of our study, we also watched to what extent children benefit from libraries to access Kurdish books. While 9 out of 20 children stated that they had no knowledge of libraries, some of them stated that libraries were closed in municipalities where trustees were appointed or in schools providing education in Kurdish. A small number of children also stated that they can only access a few Kurdish books in libraries: “I have never come across something like we should hide it because it is Kurdish. I saw a few. One of them was like an encyclopaedia. I liked it a lot.” Ç5 “I have seen very few books in libraries even in Turkish in Diyarbakır, there are just one or two Kurdish.” Ç13 Adult participants also stated that there are no Kurdish books in libraries like children, and a small number of participants stated that there are libraries in some schools and non-governmental organizations that children can benefit from without showing a concrete place: “There are two or three libraries where you can Access to classics, but i haven’t seen Kurdish.” Ö3 “My elder child that is in highshool, goes to library, but I don’t know which library.” E3 “As far as I know there is no library. There were some associations of children which has small places like library, but they aren’t big enough.” E8

53 In our interviews, the children stated that they generally turn to television rather than the Kurdish book. Television channels stood out more than books in terms of children’s access to media products in their mother tongue: “It would be more correct to say a channel, we follow it more. Shall I tell you the name? Let’s not say it because it is recorded. Ç5 “I don’t know Kurdish books, there were tales to my nephew, and I read a few of them from him. There are not many books, we mostly watch the news channels because it is our mother tongue.” Ç15 “There are those who use TV channels or something, but I did not come across books and magazines much.” Ç13 Although the children said that they knew the names of the television channels broadcasting in Kurdish and that they were watched at home, they stated that they did not watch the broadcasts because the children who did not speak Kurdish did not understand: “We sometimes watch and listen to Kurdish channels. I don’t understand news. I ask to my uncle, and he translates for me.” Ç5 “I don’t enjoy because I don’t understand very well. My family enjoy because they understand. I don’t know but I think my friends don’t watch.” Ç16 “I sometimes come across on tv and I try to understand, but I can’t.” Ç19 TRT Kurdî, which is among the Kurdish TV channels, was voiced by only one child. Apart from that, the children generally talked about Zarok TV, which is a children’s channel, and said that they listen to Kurdish music on TV. They also talked about the low number of channels and the closure of these channels, and they said they wanted more channels broadcasting in Kurdish: “Television has a role, but some channels have been shut down. Only 2, 3 of them are open, and sometimes not at all. There is also a Kurdish channel for children, which is very good.” Ç10 “There are only a few channels, they barely get along. I wish there were more Kurdish channels.” Ç15 “There is no program on TV, but I follow songs, celebrities or something...” Ç20 Adult participants also stated that the content of Kurdish broadcasts is insufficient, they cannot appeal to children of all age groups, they do not attract children, and that children are more interested in Kurdish songs: “He/she had sympathy for Zarok TV, we watch it, frankly we criticize it in some ways, we are aware that its contents are naturally caused by certain impossibilities, we think that it is a deficiency due to the lack of economically strong financial resources. But he follows certain publications very fondly, it is very interested in the songs part. I think that the broadcasts related to Kurdish language, which we can call positive in every aspect, are behind. Especially for Zazaki, enough products are not produced and published.”. E7

54 “Coloring and painting were troublesome, and the children’s world was based on imagination, so the perception of color and shape of pictures was more intense than expression, so visuality and aesthetics did not come to the fore.” E8 “As far as I observe there isnt much attention. However, if a loved one speaks, he becomes curious or wonders if there is a song he loves. There is Zarok TV, and he dubs the cartoons, the child does not understand. So, there are clips for local songs. Little loves them guys.” Ö1 TRT Kurdî was considered as a channel that doesn’t appeal children and has insufficient content by adults: “There aren’t so many things for children in TRT part, it isn’t qualified.’’Ö5 “There is TRT6, I don’t follow it, so I don’t want it, I don’t adopt it. They always steal from us. It doesn’t sound sincere to me. They aren’t really doing it to do it selflessly. There is a big gap.” E5 During our observation study, we also met with TV broadcasters, publishers, authors and theater actors who produce Kurdish content in order to gain more comprehensive information about children’s access to media products IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO in their mother tongue. During the interviews, it was explained that no incentives were received in terms of production, and that there were many difficulties in terms of financial, therefore, limited production was possible, personal efforts were at the forefront, support came from families and volunteers, and it was difficult to access authors who would write in Kurdish for children: “It is a great encouragement for them to greet us and engage in dialogue. It is enough for them to buy books and greet us as much as we can continue this business. We are trying to cover these materials from our own pockets while printing them. In other words, any incentive would be the smiling faces of the families and their speaking in Kurdish with their children.”SM1 “We do not receive any institutional incentives. We continue our work with our own resources. When it comes to being the first in this field, personal support is very high. So, someone who supports us doesn’t ask for royalty, there are people who voluntarily support us. There are many people who believe that this study is correct.” SM3 “There are economic difficulties. Schools usually buy children’s games or the one who plays the theater goes to school. Families take their children to play or schools. It is a great pain that the cost of making games in these unsupported, difficult conditions and the bigger issue cannot be paid off.”SM4 “We have to do all our work ourselves, from the preparation of the books to the printing, from the finance to the transportation to the warehouse. These are the main difficulties we face, and we also have difficulties in terms of illustration. Also, there are no writers to write in Kurdish for children. This is one of the biggest challenges” SM2

55 “I print limited. I print 1000, I can reach a thousand people. How funny it is, but when we talk, 20 million, forty million. Our facts are 1000.” SM1 During our observation, we found that there is a strong link between mother tongue education, mother tongue teaching, and rights to access media products in the mother tongue. Accordingly, the production of Kurdish books and other written publications and the use of Kurdish in education turned into a process that feeds each other. Both educators and publishers explained this situation from their own perspective: “The choice of Kurdish as a lesson has now tended to lose its function. It was good before, for example, teachers who attended these classes were coming. I have 40 students, I have 100 students who says give me a material, a dictionary.” SM2 “Since there was no education in Kurdish, no publishing house was publishing a Kurdish story book. In time, after these schools, publishing houses were opened rather than publishing stories in Kurdish. We demanded magazines about concepts and colors, saying that we lacked stories in Kurdish, we lacked magazines. Two publishing houses that only publish children’s books were opened in Diyarbakır.” Y2 THE EFFECT OF POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS ON CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO MEDIA PRODUCTS IN MOTHER TONGUE As in the whole of our report, in this section, we discussed how the political changes in the last 10 years have been reflected in children’s rights to access media products in their mother tongue. During the interviews, the participants explained that the access of children to these products was negatively affected, libraries were closed, activities and courses were terminated due to the trusteeship practice that started with the state of emergency process and the interventions made in schools providing education in Kurdish: “After the trustee was appointed, it was closed, I think it was turned into a different library. Kurdish books are no longer available. There is no other place I know of.’’Ç3 “We always demanded that we were missing stories in Kurdish, we were missing magazines. We were demanding magazines about concepts and colors. Later, these publishing houses were opened, and we were very relieved when we came out to them, but after this process was over, we started to have such a difficulty again. Because you can’t read, you can’t walk around, you can’t keep it with you too much, it doesn’t have that comfort, so we have had that comfort for a few years, we’ve progressed quite a bit.” Y2 “After the trustee, the children’s families opened their homes to us. Courses continued in homes.” SM5

56 ANALYSIS IN THE RIGHT TO ACCESS MEDIA PRODUCTS IN THEIR MOTHER TONGUE

As a result of our field study, we reached the following conclusions in terms of the right to access media products in their mother tongue: In Diyarbakır, • Children have very limited access to Kurdish books. Children who have difficulties in finding Kurdish books in bookstores can only access publications with the support of their families. • Even if the children know Kurdish, they may have difficulty reading publications. Kurdish literacy skills may be insufficient for children. • Children cannot access libraries with Kurdish publications. • For their language needs, children prefer television to books. However, television channels broadcasting in Kurdish are having difficulties in

producing special content for children. Public broadcasting in Kurdish IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO through TRT Kurdî does not address children. • Those who produce in fields such as Kurdish literature, music and theater face difficulties, not encouragement. • Kurdish education and the production of media products are evolving into a process that supports each other. While Kurdish lessons and schools enable the production of more media products, the media products produced meet the material needs of the lessons and schools. • Due to the effects of the state of emergency, trustees and the conflict process, closed libraries and schools, access to Kurdish publications is negatively affected. As a result, children’s rights to access media products in their mother tongue are violated in Diyarbakır. Mass media are not encouraged to pay special attention to the language needs of Kurdish children. In addition to our field studies, in order to have the most accurate and up-to-date information within the scope of our desk research, we directed the relevant institutions to obtain information applications about media products in Kurdish language. In this context, in the Kurdish language; We asked about the work done for children, the budget allocated for these studies, the incentives made for these studies, the pressures and circulation of children’s publications, the number of media organizations and the control mechanisms of the publications regarding children’s rights52. However, the response given to our application included the information that there were only 32 organizations broadcasting in different languages within the scope of the Law No. 6112 on Radio and Television Establishment and Broadcasting Services, leaving our other questions unanswered.

52- Our application numbered 2100922929 that was made to CIMER on 22.02.2021 was answered by the Monitoring and Evaluation Department on 09.03.2021.

57 During our research, we determined that 27 out of 32 organizations announced by RTÜK broadcast in Kurdish, but only 1 television channel was specific to children, confirming our field findings.53 This, in itself, proves that television broadcasts, which are the mass media used by children, are quite low compared to the population of children whose mother tongue is Kurdish. However, the first and only private Kurdish children’s channel Zarok TV was closed on September 29, 2016 during the state of emergency and reopened on November 18, 2016 with a decree law, just as our participants stated, the anti-democratic practices in recent years have It emerges as a reflection of the negative impact it has made on her rights. Another case that proved our findings was that TRT Kurdî, who was in charge of public broadcasting, was not known by children. In this organization, which started broadcasting in Kurdish on behalf of the state as of January 1, 2009 and whose name was changed to TRT Kurdî on January 10, 2015, it deserves to be emphasized that there is no content for children54. It is possible to say that our research on Kurdish books published for children confirms our findings regarding the limitations of these publications. Accordingly, in the responses to the parliamentary questions in 2019 and 2020, it is seen that the number of banderols given for Kurdish printed books was 1,057,440 in 2015, while it was 85,400 in 2020. Although this data does not contain specific information about children’s publications, it shows that Kurdish book printing has decreased dramatically in the last 5 years.55. Again, in the replies, it is stated that there are 32 periodicals in Kurdish, and 50,000 copies of Kurdish-Turkish / Turkish-Kurdish dictionaries were published for the first time and for one time56. Thus, when the number of children whose mother tongue is Kurdish is evaluated together with the printed mass media in Kurdish, it is clearly revealed that the language needs of the children cannot be observed. Although it was declared57 that there are 7 districts, 2 children, 1 mobile and 1 museum library in Diyarbakır province under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was an important finding that in our57 monitoring study, the participants stated that children did not have access to libraries with Kurdish books. According to the information we obtained as a result of the media scan, after being appointed as trustee to Diyarbakır Municipality in 2016, more than 10 thousand books in Turkish and Kurdish languages, which are also used by children, were reduced to 300 in the Kayapınar Municipality Cegerxwîn Culture and Art Center Library58. The Audio Library,

53- https://www.rtuk.gov.tr/yayin-izni-verilen-kuruluslar/5165/5046/yayin-izni-verilen-kuruluslar.html 54- https://trtkurdi.com.tr/ 55- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-29556sgc.pdf 56- https://www2.tbmm.gov.tr/d27/7/7-12431sgc.pdf 57- http://diyarbakir.kutuphane.gov.tr/TR-265543/subelerimiz.html 58- https://www.evrensel.net/haber/408449/kutuphanedeki-10-bin-kitap-kayyumdan-sonra-300e-dusuruldu

58 which was established by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality in 2014 within the Social Services Department Disability Support Unit, was closed by the trustee, and access to audio books uploaded to the municipality website and they banned the page so that children cannot access books in their mother tongue59. All these statements show that the mechanisms that should be encouraged by the state to protect children’s right to Access information in their mother tongue that are limited and blocked by various interventions. Turkey should remove the reservation it has placed on Article 17 of the UNCRC, constitutionally ensure that children have access to media products in their mother tongue, provide special incentives for the creation of Kurdish media products for children and make them accessible by children, and self-control mechanisms that ensure compliance with children’s rights (ombudsman), publication principles, study guides, etc.).

A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

59- Diyarbakır Milletvekili Sezgin Tanrıkulu’nun Şubat 2021’de yayınladığı “Millet İradesinin Gaspı, Kayyım Politikası Raporu”: https:// bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/240041-kutuphaneler-kapatildi-taziye-evleri-yikildii

59 60 Application

Mechanisms IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Against Violations of Rights in Mother Tongue

61 APPLICATION MECHANISMS AGAINST VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS IN MOTHER TONGUE

In our study, which we conducted within the scope of the 3 articles that Turkey made reservations to UNCRC, the rights of children to access application and complaint mechanisms in their mother tongue against the rights violations they are subjected to appeared as an important field of monitoring. In its general comment number 11, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child emphasizes that children from indigenous and minority groups are more vulnerable to risks such as child abuse and child labor, and that systematic discrimination is the reason why they are disproportionately higher in the justice system and deprived of their liberty. For this very reason, special attention should be paid to the risks these children face and protective measures should be taken. During our study, considering the recognition of the official language as Turkish in the Constitution, the fundamental principles of the Convention, which are the observance of the child’s best interests, not being exposed to discrimination and the right to participate, we have determined whether there are mechanisms where children can express themselves comfortably and confidently in their mother tongue when they experience violations of their rights. We observed that they could not access. As a result of our interviews, most of the children stated that they do not know the institutions to apply when they are subjected to an injustice. While some of the children talked about the child police, there were also children who stated that they could convey the situation to their teachers and their families and emphasized the children’s rights associations: “Counseling teachers or non-governmental organizations that advocate children’s rights no matter how I say, people cannot stand still when a child’s right is defeated, of course, it is necessary to raise awareness about this issue, that is, both oneself and society.” Ç3 “I do not know the names of the institutions exactly, but if such a situation occurs, I probably go to my counselor or tell my mother.” Ç4 “If the schools were open, we had a counseling teacher, if I were in that situation, I would go without hesitation and tell him. He used to apply to children’s rights dormitories or something. Then I would have the family or the person who committed that violence punished.” Ç10 “I would tell my family, police or children rights association.” Ç17 During our interviews, there were no children who said or thought that their mother tongue was being served for applications against rights violations, but the children demanded that these mechanisms should be spoken in a language that everyone can understand:

62 “There is Russian and English but they dont give importance to Kurdish or Zazaki.” Ç8 “It’s Turkish but I think there should be other languages too, other languages also should be respected.” Ç9 “I want people respond me in the language I speak. For example, if someone talk Kurdish the response should be Kurdish” Ç13 “It should be both Kurdish and Turkish.” Ç14 Parents also mentioned the shortcomings of the application mechanisms, supporting the data we received from the children, and expressed their thoughts that Kurdish mother tongue services cannot be obtained here: “I would want to access but nowhere is accessible.” E1 “I have never gone. But it is probably forbidden. I would speak Kurdish if I lived it. I don’t know Turkish well, it would be good if it was Kurdish.’’E3 “If there is a violation of rights today, we do not exist officially. I mean, yes, in some places they say ‘We did this, we did this. Kurdish is also a language, IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO but unfortunately there is no such thing. We cannot do anything formally, but we can express ourselves through some associations.” E4 The civil society representatives whom we interviewed explained that children and their families who are subjected to rights violations need to apply in Kurdish and that this need can be met by legal regulations and staff who speak Kurdish: “When someone apply to the court or an institution, the official language is Turkish, nothing to do. We need to translate Kurdish into Turkish, otherwise this petition is not accepted. Let’s talk about a lot of social aspects of this, but when we go to the door of the state institution, it is not Kurdish, it has to turn to Turkish. Again, we are stuck on the legal obstacle by wandering around. According to need, it can be in Kurdish, Zaza, etc. there is a shortage of public staff who can speak these languages.” STÖ10 “The text of the application form regarding violations is in Turkish. The information of the people is in Turkish, but there are too many applications we receive in Kurdish. People who do not speak Turkish can apply to the institution; we receive their application in Kurdish...” STÖ7 The adult participants we interviewed showed a more negative picture in terms of children in the use of their mother tongue; They stated that rights that adults cannot reach are more inaccessible to children: “I know that even adults’ defences aren’t accepted in their mother tongue in some violations of rights, so it sounds very imaginary for children.” Ö1 “My child client wanted to make a defence in Kurdish. The law says that if they want to defend in another language, the court must have an interpreter. There is no obstacle in education in mother tongue in the defence part, but despite our insistence, his request to defend in Kurdish was rejected. The

63 president of the court argued in his own way that he should speak Turkish because he knew Turkish, and that this was a regulation introduced only for people who did not speak Turkish. When I went to prison, I had difficulty explaining this to the boy. The child was asking: There is a law article about this, adults do not have a problem, they can give a statement in Kurdish when they are attached to prison here. Doesn’t he allow it because we are children?” I had difficulty answering these then. At that time, the court tried to punish it without taking any defence. Later, the decision was reversed from the higher court, but the child was in custody at that time and was later released.” STÖ7 ANALYSIS IN THE RIGHT TO ACCESS APPLICATION

AND COMPLAINT MECHANISMS IN MOTHER TONGUE

As a result of our field work, we reached the following conclusions in terms of the right to access application and complaint mechanisms in mother tongue: In Diyarbakır, • Children do not know where to go when they are subjected to an injustice. • Children demand multilingualism in application and complaint mechanisms. • Children are at a disadvantage compared to adults in accessing application and complaint mechanisms in their mother tongue As a result, children who are more likely to enter the judicial system due to the systematic discrimination they are subjected to and who are more vulnerable to risks are violated in Diyarbakır, where their right to access application and complaint mechanisms where they can express themselves in their native language in the face of violations of their rights. In addition to the judicial authorities to apply in private and public legal disputes in Turkey, there are also different mechanisms that children can apply to: Alo 183 Social Support Line, which was established within the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, to provide consultancy services to those who need social service support and to inform them about the social service institutions they can benefit from, and to provide them with the type of service they need, 24/7 free of charge and does not provide services in Kurdish60. The Ombudsman for Children (KDK Child) under the Ombudsman Institution does not receive applications in Kurdish in order to investigate, investigate

60- http://www.alo183.gov.tr/

64 and make suggestions on the compliance of all works, transactions and actions of the administration in terms of law, justice and respect for human rights.61 Presidential Communication Center (CİMER), an electronic public service tool created for the use of the right to petition and the right to information, is open to the complaints of children over the age of 12 who have the power to discriminate, but this mechanism is not possible to apply in a language other than Turkish.62 Within the scope of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment (OPCAT), children who can receive applications from all natural and legal persons claiming to be victims of violations of the prohibition of discrimination, including children The Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK), which has the authority to examine the applications of prisoners in penalty institutions, does not provide services in Kurdish.63 As announced on the website, KADES, an official application presented to users in order to prevent bad acts such as violence and harassment, IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO which women and children are exposed to, was prepared by the General Directorate of Security and is considered as the first emergency response tool that can come to mind in emergencies. While KADES provides services in 6 languages, including Russian and French, it is not accessible in Kurdish. Turkey should remove the reservations it has put on the UNCRC in order to ensure that children have access to mechanisms that can express themselves in their mother tongue against violations of rights, provide constitutional guarantees for the right to apply in their mother tongue, It should provide Kurdish access to mechanisms such as Alo 183, CIMER, KDK Child, TIHEK and KADES, and it should select and assign civil servants working in administrative authorities to be sensitive to children’s language needs.

61- www.kdkcocuk.gov.tr 62- https://www.cimer.gov.tr/50sorudacimer.pdf 63- https://www.tihek.gov.tr/

65 66 Reflection of Differences such as Disability, IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Poverty and Gender on Mother Tongue Rights

67 REFLECTION OF DIFFERENCES SUCH AS DISABILITY, POVERTY AND GENDER ON MOTHER TONGUE RIGHTS

Within the extent of the prohibition of discrimination, we included the access of children with different characteristics -in terms of their mother tongue rights- to their mother tongue rights in our observing work. Disability, poverty and gender were the prominent themes in the answers given to the questions we asked about this issue. Eleven of the 20 children stated that there was no child with special needs around them, and they said that they had disabled acquaintances and that these friends did not speak Kurdish but only spoke Turkish. This information we received from the children showed that children with disabilities may be at a more disadvantage than non-disabled children in terms of their right to live their own culture and use their own language: “There is not much like that in the friend environment. I just had a friend in my class. He also had a walking disability. My friend was speaking more Turkish at school.”Ç3 “They also speak Turkish, I haven’t seen anyone talking another language.” Ç4 The artists, teachers, representatives of non-governmental organizations and local administrators we interviewed stated that disabled children are invisible in terms of their mother tongue rights, and that the services provided to these children can be realized through the efforts of their families and educators: “Children who need special education are a more specific field, we have not encountered such a thing actually.” STÖ10 “I mean, unfortunately, we never did such an event. I did not come across as an audience either. There should have been a school, foundation or an association for them. This could be our shortcoming.” SM4 “Children with special needs are our deficiency, there weren’t any. Things such as the children not being very involved in the work we carry out and the transportation barrier at work were disadvantages for us.” STÖ3 “There is no school to be sent, no rehabilitation. The family says, “Let them come to you at least, let them set up their games with their peers, Kurdish is spoken at home, I have nobody to play with my child to play”.” Y2 “We brought the disabled discount at school. Our aim was to create sensitivity. For example, we had an orthopaedic physically disabled child, he was having difficulty in entering and exiting our conference hall, we created stairs, handrails, etc., so we showed maximum sensitivity. Of course, these are conscientious things.” O2

68 During our interviews, we found that another factor affecting children’s access to mother tongue rights is poverty. According to the responses we received, there was a link between the discrimination faced and the economic situation, and the biggest challenge for parents to send their children to education institutions in Kurdish was economic difficulties. Some educational institutions tried to create opportunities such as scholarships to overcome this difficulty: “We had a research that has not been published yet, we asked if you are exposed to discrimination based on mother tongue. When we look at the socio-economic status of those who say that they are not left, all of them are actually low-income, completely class-based...” STÖ8 “To say the truth, I can’t decide to send them now. Because why? Now I’m kind of a bit troubled in terms of economy, you know? Because I am unemployed, I cannot find a bus money and a minibus from time to time.” E4 “The institution requires a certain fee to meet its needs. Not everyone can come because of him. After all, you pay for everything with the money sent by those children. Not everyone can come because their food, drink, needs A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO and rents are met...” O1 “So, we had a quota for the poor. We had students with scholarships. If the economic situation of the family is not good or, let’s say, if there is a prison or a grievance in the family, if there is no father or mother, if she is in rent, if she is a victim of immigration, we are talking about a situation that goes parallel to a conflictual process. We already had our work set by regulations to achieve.” Y1 There were also participants who emphasized the existence of children who are exposed to intersectional discrimination by experiencing situations such as disability and poverty together: “We worked with children with a low socio-economic status. If there is no economy, you start from zero socially. If you also have a disability, you start life more difficult. I had a child in the 7-year-old age group with physical disabilities, having trouble attending school. He could not express himself. We took a process about her life at home, made a home visit, met with the mother. We witnessed the happiness of the child at that moment. Because children are postponed, in some families, unfortunately, it is also in society. They always go through a slightly different process of exclusion.” STÖ5 We asked the parents we interviewed whether their child’s gender has an impact on access to services related to mother tongue rights. Parents stated that they want their children to benefit from these services regardless of gender. Some parents took a more positive attitude towards their daughters. The representatives of the civil society stated that they attach special importance to gender equality both in participating in the activities and in the content of the activity, and the artists similarly emphasized that they emphasize equality and respect for differences in the content of their works:

69 “Girls are embarrassed, or at least we want them to live good. We are looking at the hands of our husbands economically, at least they should not be crushed when they look, we are crushed, we don’t want them to be crashed.” E2 “There is no violence in my house. There is respect to women, for example, I do not separate girls from boys. They are the same for me. If there is such a thing, I will send them both.” E5 “We pay attention to gender-based awareness raising activities and the ratio of women and girls in participation...” STÖ4 “We progress in games without making any sexist behavior or gender discrimination with children.” Y2 “We have efforts to instill this sensitivity to children in the society, that is to create awareness, and we try to include them in the content we produce.” SM3 ANALYSIS IN THE REFLECTION OF DIFFERENCES SUCH AS DISABILITY, POVERTY AND GENDER ON THE RIGHTS OF THEIR MOTHER TONGUE

As a result of our field study, we have reached the following conclusions in terms of the reflection of differences such as disability, poverty and gender on the rights of their mother tongue: In Diyarbakır, • The most important difference affecting children’s access to mother tongue rights is disability. • Poverty causes children not to benefit from education and activities in Kurdish. • There is no policy other than personal and institutional efforts to eliminate the disadvantage created by disability and poverty in accessing mother tongue rights. • The emphasis on gender equality comes to the fore with personal and institutional efforts in activities or publications that children benefit. In accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution, we would like to emphasize that the rights of mother tongue should be accessible to all children in order to realize the principle of equality. In its General Comment No. 11 at the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN emphasizes the need for states to observe the different needs of indigenous children and to take special measures for the rights of indigenous children with disabilities.

Even with the limited questions in our study, it was possible to determine the invisibility of disabled children in terms of mother tongue rights, and the way poor children are left behind. For this reason, we recommend that observing studies focusing on this issue be carried out so that we can see in more detail the different effects of the UNCRC articles on the lives of disabled and poor children, and we remind them of the obligation to take special measures to meet the needs of these children

70 Children IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Demand and Adults Recommend

71 CHILDREN DEMAND & ADULTS RECOMMEND

When we asked the children, we interviewed what their demands were in terms of their mother tongue rights, three main issues came to the fore in the responses we received: Speaking the mother tongue at home, using the mother tongue at school, and the availability of television and books in their mother tongue. The children wanted their mother tongue to be spoken at home. They explained that the failure to teach the mother tongue by the parents could hardly be compensated later: “I want to call parents from here. Our mothers and fathers should speak with their children in their own language, that is, their native language in what we call mother tongue. Because whatever language a child learns in the home environment, he wants to encounter that language around him and actively uses that language.” Ç3 “How can children learn their mother tongue if their parent dont speal it.” Ç13 “Since the child is born, he must be taught whatever his mother tongue is. If you learn your mother tongue at home, you can already learn Turkish as a second language at school, but if she does not learn her mother tongue at home, she will learn her mother tongue as a second language. This will not make the child feel as if they have learned their mother tongue, they will think they are learning another language...” Ç20 Another prominent demand of the children was related to the use of Kurdish in schools. Both the lessons in which Kurdish will be taught and the education should be in Kurdish were requested by the children: “They can open courses, or they can give one or two classes at school.’’ Ç8 “It will be very good even if an optional course is given at school. We want it a lot. I wish we had a Kurdish lesson, it would be easy to learn.” Ç14 “This is the most thing I want, to learn Kurdish.’’ Ç20 The children wanted to increase the number of Kurdish media products. The spread and accessibility of Kurdish television, books and magazines was emphasized in this sense: “This is not a work as I say it, but so what can it be? I would like more Kurdish channels, more television channels, more Kurdish book magazines or Kurdish lessons in schools.” Ç13 “Tv channels. Because we can’t get courses during pandemic. We mostly spend time on tv so if there is something Kurdish on TV, it may be easy to learn Kurdish.” Ç17 “I want school, tv and books. I want it to be taught.” Ç15

72 The parents we interviewed stated that although they accepted the responsibilities of children with the use of the mother tongue, it would not be sufficient to use the mother tongue alone at home, and that what they could do in this regard was limited. Parents’ suggestions on children’s mother tongue rights also focused on the use of Kurdish in education. “I truly believe that mother tongue is a universal right like sun, earth and water. I’m trying to do my part, but that’s not enough. Really, different ways of doing this should be developed.” E8 “The children look at their friends, look at their teachers, they all speak Turkish. So, when they come home, I speak Kurdish, how efficient can I be. They weigh more, but it will be different if spoken at school. That would be a nice thing, but unfortunately such a thing is not possible. I can’t. We can’t do anything. We can only watch from afar, that’s all.” E1 “My only dream is for my tongue to exist because Zaza is about to be extinct. I will continue to struggle for the language. I shouldn’t die. How the school in Lice was destroyed with scoops? Come and do it with those ladles again” E10 IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO In addition to the demands and suggestions of children and parents regarding their mother tongue rights, we also asked representatives of non- governmental organizations, local administrators and educators about what to do in terms of mother tongue rights. Adult participants emphasized legal regulations and demanded that these obstacles be eliminated first. The suggestions that parents should support children in terms of their mother tongue and the use of Kurdish in education were also in line with the feedback we received from the children and parents: “We have always understood that we do nothing in the questions you asked. The biggest obstacle, which is the indispensable sentence we always utter on 20 November World Children’s Rights Day, the 17th, 29th and 30th articles of the UNCRC should be removed. These should be removed for a radical solution, and the Constitution should be amended.” STÖ11 “After the mother tongue children start to be spoken in the family, I think that even if there is an optional course in this kindergarten, in primary school, one hour and two hours should be in every period of life.” Ö2 “Unfortunately, Kurdish is no longer transmitted to children from parents, who are the second generation. Young people are more able to make an effort to learn by themselves. Therefore, it is important to inform and raise awareness of parents.’’STÖ8 “Education need to be given officially or the language will disappear. This is not fair. This is not something that can only happen with optional Kurdish lessons. It is not possible to say the optional course about Zazaki it is about to disappear from society, and this is a big danger. I am very worried about this. In other words, if Turkey wants to be in the EU community, it should pave the way for all languages and allow education to be given in its mother tongue.” Y3

73 ANALYSIS IN THE DEMANDS OF THE CHILDREN IN TERMS OF THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE AND THE SUGGESTIONS OF THE CARE GIVERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS

As a result of our field work, we reached the following conclusions in terms of the demands of the children in terms of mother tongue rights and the suggestions of the care givers and community leaders: In Diyarbakır, • Children want to learn their mother tongue at home and want to talk their parents. • Children want to use Kurdish language in education. • Children want to access information through technological devices like books, tv etc. • Parents say that speaking Kurdish with their children is insufficient in terms of their mother tongue rights; They want children to be supported in society and suggest the use of mother tongue in education. • Adults working with children advocate the necessity of removing legal barriers in terms of mother tongue rights, strengthening parents in terms of mother tongue use, and using the mother tongue in education.

Of course, it is not a coincidence that the violations of rights we detected during our monitoring work and the demands of the children regarding their mother tongue rights are in harmony with each other. The determinations and suggestions of the parents and other adult participants who witness the relationships of the children with their mother tongue also clearly reveal what needs to be done,

74 A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Recommendations

75 RECOMMENDATIONS

As we conclude our report, we list our suggestions, and we hope that decision makers quickly implement these suggestions, taking into account the violations of rights in our work: • The reservations regarding the rights of mother tongue in international conventions, especially those placed in articles 17, 29 and 30 of the UNCRC, should be lifted. • The obstacles to the use of Kurdish in public life should be removed by making a constitutional amendment. • International conventions including the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities should be a party to international conventions covering the rights of the mother tongue. • Parents should be supported in terms of children’s access to mother tongue rights. • Kurdish should be taught in schools. The content of the Living Languages and Dialects Course and the materials used for this course should be improved, the obstacles to the selection of the course should be removed, and a teacher should be appointed for the course. • Bilingual teachers who speak Kurdish should be assigned in regions where Kurds live intensely. • Private schools that give education in Kurdish should be encouraged. • Multilingual public education should be Kurdish included. • Production and dissemination of Kurdish media products should be encouraged. • Public broadcasting should be done on television with a content specific to children. • The application and complaint mechanisms that children can access in case of violations of rights should be made accessible in Kurdish, and bilingual personnel should be employed in judicial and administrative authorities. • Special measures should be taken regarding the mother tongue rights of disabled children. • Poor children should be supported to access their mother tongue rights.

76 • Discrimination against children whose mother tongue is Kurdish should be effectively fought. • Mother tongue rights should be considered within the context of children’s rights and evaluated independently from political processes at national and local levels; Child-focused work of local governments should be strengthened. • Disaggregated data on mother tongue use should be collected in order to develop strategies and policies regarding mother tongue rights and to evaluate their effects. • Items for the implementation of mother tongue rights should be allocated in the budgets of the relevant institutions and these should be shared with the public. • Considering the concluding observations of the UN Child Rights Committee, the information requested by the Committee should be explained in the country reports, and the reports and concluding observations should be

translated into Kurdish and disseminated. IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO • An advisory board consisting of representatives and children should be established, and children’s views should be sought in all decisions and practices in terms of mother tongue rights, including the recommendations contained in this report.

77 78 A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

Conclusion

79 CONCLUSION

With this study, in which we observe the access of children living in Diyarbakır to their mother tongue rights, we aimed to make rights violations visible and to develop suggestions based on children’s views. When we end our work, the children live their own culture; using and learning native languages; We have determined that they are deprived of the right to receive education in their mother tongue, access to media products and application and complaint mechanisms. We have determined that disabled and poor children are in a much more disadvantaged position compared to other children in terms of having these rights. Another purpose of our study was to see how the reservations put in the 3 articles of the UNCRC, which includes mother tongue rights, are reflected in the lives of children and to evaluate to what extent Turkey fulfills its responsibilities arising from the Convention. In this context, when we examine the 4th and 5th Periodic Reports of Turkey, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child was not given detailed information64 on the special measures taken regarding the right of children to develop their own culture and use their language, periodic reports were not prepared65 regularly and on time, and the general information on the subject was conveyed we saw that they are contented with. Civil society representatives we interviewed in our field research also stated that their views on mother tongue rights have not been asked until now. Finally, we determined that the periodic reports and the concluding observations of the Committee are available on the official website of the MoFLSS, but they are published only in Turkish66, and not translated into Kurdish67. Thus, it was possible to say that the results and suggestions we put forward in our monitoring report are of special importance when evaluated with this general attitude of Turkey regarding its contractual obligations.

64- Among the articles 211-214 of the report, with reference to the 10th article of the Constitution and the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty in terms of "Cultural Rights of Children from Minority Groups and Indigenous Groups", no statistics based on ethnic origin were kept and no analysis was made. 65- While the parties are obliged to submit their reports every 5 years, Turkey submitted its first country report in 1999 and its second and third combined report in 2012. The report, which should have been submitted in May 2017, was submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 29 March 2019 as the fourth and fifth combined report. 66- https://ailevecalisma.gov.tr/chgm/sayfalar/cocuk-haklari-sozlesmesi-ulke-raporlari/ 67- https://ailevecalisma.gov.tr/chgm/sayfalar/cocuk-haklari-sozlesmesi-ulke-raporlari/ 68- Indigenous Children and Their Rights Under the Convention, General Comment No:11 (2009).

80 Based on the reports submitted to the UNCRC, the Committee on the Rights of the Child states that many states do not give enough importance to the obligation of protecting the rights of minority and indigenous children and support their development. However, states need to take positive measures in order to ensure that children from minority and indigenous groups enjoy the rights in the UNCRC on an equal basis with other children and to eliminate the conditions that cause discrimination. It is important to consult the relevant community on laws, policies and programs affecting children and to provide effective opportunities for children to participate in the process68. What would mother tongue rights be like in a world ruled by children? We are pursuing this issue as we complete our observation report. We do what governments and adults ought to do when making a decision about children, and we give our ears to children: A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO

81 82 If Children IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO Become Managers...

83 IF CHILDREN BECOME MANAGERS ...

“I would open a school special to Kurdish, I would spread it.” Ç1 “I would open places in which people could speak their languages.” Ç2 “If I were a state administrator, I would give freedom to Circassian, Arab, Kurdish, Christian; all people living in my country to speak their own languages. I would accept all flags as my flag. I would set up different schools, according to how many kinds of people were there. At the same time, I would set up courses for societies to speak their own language better academically, to understand better and to become more conscious. I would establish associations and do my best to raise awareness...” Ç3 “I used to do theaters. If I wanted to teach Kurdish in theaters, I would make them speak Kurdish, if I wanted to teach Turkish, I would have them speak Turkish. I would give children something like a book in their hands like that, and those words would be written there too. So, for example, let’s say that man says, “How are you, are you okay?” He should write there, “Çer Dıki”(‘how are you’ in English) and so on.” Ç4 ‘’ If I were a state administrator, let me talk about my own grandmother, she does not speak Turkish. He speaks Kurdish, but when he goes to a hospital or a social aid to another association or another place, he cannot benefit from any institution and cannot directly contact himself. Because he knows Kurdish. Therefore, it might be better if there were a few people there or, I don’t know, a few civil servants who knew Kurdish and only communicated with people who speak Kurdish.” Ç5 “I would suggest Kurdish in schools. I would also highlight it on television channels as a subtitle. Apart from that, I would also use Kurdish in written sources.” Ç6 “I would give Kurdish lesson in all schools’’. Ç7 “I would give some lessons to Kurdishi for example if there are 12 hours maths, I would give two of them to Kurdish.” Ç8

84 “I would give lessons in schools, there would be Kurdish like there are German, English and other lessons.” Ç9 “I would reopen the channels. I would open a lot of channels. I would open a channel called “Our Kurdish is beautiful”. People would popularize it, I could actually do it for Turkish too. But there are already many channels for Turkish. If my channel is good in Kurdish, if it happens, I will open another channel. This time I wish it would be music. Kurdish music is also very good, I think there is no need to tell about Diyarbakır, the majority is in Kurdish. I would go and tell it myself; I wouldn’t be afraid of anyone, I would go and tell it myself.” Ç10 “I would forbid kidding with anyone. Then, I would let all languages be spoken.’’ Ç11 “I would advise everyone; I would do anything related to learning. I mean, A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO for example, I would do 2 or 3 courses like this in every district. Then, for example, I would teach Kurdish to everybody who want in a family. Kurdish isnt enough, we should learn other languages too” Ç12 “Let me not say two, I wish there were as many people as there are people. So I would like to use the language everyone speaks. I would publish newspapers in Turkish, Kurdish and other languages. I would translate them.” Ç13 “I would encourage people, prepare good events, open courses. I would also make such beautiful narrations from the theater, I would distribute such books or something.” Ç14 “I would set free all languages. I would make people use which language they want.” Ç15 “I would put Kurdisl language as an optional lesson in schools.” Ç16 “First of all, an association for children’s rights because children’s rights should not be violated, so there should be scholarship for children.” Ç17 “I would warn everyone to speak Turkish.” Ç18 “I would help all children learn their mother tongue.” Ç19 “Let me give you an example from Canada now. There, the French population is happily living in their native language. I could make such a system.” Ç20

85 86 ADDITIONAL : THE REPORT A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO INDICATOR SET OF USING MOTHER TONGUE AMONG CHILDREN IN DIYARBAKIR

87 88 MIGRATION FOUNDATION

INDICATORS IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO FOR OBSERVING CHILDREN’S MOTHER TONGUE RIGHTS IN DIYARBAKIR

89 90 MIGRATION FOUNDATION INDICATORS FOR OBSERVING IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO CHILDREN’S MOTHER TONGUE RIGHTS IN DIYARBAKIR This set of indicators has been prepared on the basis of international standards and norms regarding the right of children to their mother tongue. The basis of these norms and standards are international human rights conventions. The documents prepared by international human rights conventions and human rights mechanisms used as a source for the preparation of the indicator set are as follows: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UNESCO Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination in Education, Convention No. 169 on the People of the United Nations, General Comment No. 11 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the 2012 Turkey Concluding Observation Report of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the 23rd UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Its General Recommendation is the Guidelines for Practical Implementation of Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities, prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues.

91 STRUCTURAL INDICATOR -1 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method

The right to experience • It has been a party to all international conventions • Desk Research their own culture and to on this subject. (UN CRC, Convention on the • Legislation and Policy Document use their mother tongue is Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Analysis guaranteed. UNESCO Convention on the Elimination of • Interview with Key Persons and Discrimination in Education, Convention on Civil Experts and Personal Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Council of Europe Framework Convention on Minority Rights) • Compliance of national legislation with international standards has been achieved. • The reservations in the UN CRC have been lifted. • This right is defined in law / regulation / directive / standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / strategic plan etc. • In the law / regulation / directive / standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / strategic plan etc., promotion and awareness studies of this right are foreseen. • In the law / regulation / directive / standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / strategic plan etc., the parties such as civil society, private sector, are foreseen to respect this right

STRUCTURAL INDICATOR -2 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method

The right of different • This right is defined in law / regulation / directive / • Desk Research cultural groups to establish standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / • Legislation and Policy Document their own educational strategic plan etc. Analysis institutions and facilities is • Special rules to encourage the establishment of • Interview with Key Persons and guaranteed.. such educational institutions and facilities in the Experts documents, etc. are available. • The awareness and promotion of the right to establish such educational institutions and facilities are stipulated in the documents.

STRUCTURAL INDICATOR 3 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method

Access to media products • This right is defined in law / regulation / directive / • Desk Research (TV, newspapers, standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / • Legislation and Policy Document magazines, online strategic plan etc. Analysis platforms, books, radio, • Special rules in the documents to encourage the • Interview with Key Persons and etc.) in their mother tongue creation of these media products, etc. are available. Experts is secured. • The awareness of the right to access such media products and promotion activities are foreseen in the documents.

STRUCTURAL INDICATOR -4 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method

The rights of children to • This right is defined in law / regulation / directive / • Desk Research access application and standard etc. and / or national / local action plan / • Legislation and Policy Document complaint mechanisms strategic plan etc. Analysis in their mother tongue • The awareness of the right to access the application • Interview with Key Persons and regarding violations and complaint mechanism in the mother tongue and Experts of rights they have promotion activities are foreseen in the documents. been subjected to are guaranteed

92 PROCESS INDICATORS -1 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children from different • Number of educational institutions and facilities • Meeting with parents cultural groups are • Educational institutions and facilities are known by • Meeting with the school founders given the right to access parents and children. • Meeting with children educational institutions and • All groups can access special financial incentives for • Budget documents reviews facilities established in their educational institutions and facilities. • Curriculum research own culture and mother • Educational institutions and facilities are physically • Meeting with Local Administrators tongue. accessible to children. • Meeting with civil society • Educational institutions and facilities are also representatives accessible to children of low-income families. • Parents can receive contributions for indirect education costs in educational institutions and facilities. • There are incentive practices for the attendance of girls in educational institutions and facilities. • Educational institutions and facilities can create their own curriculum. • Educators and managers who will work in educational institutions and facilities receive in- service training on the right to receive education in the mother tongue PROCESS INDICATORS -2 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children are entitled to • Number of schools providing education in mother • Meeting with parents education in their mother tongue • Meeting with educators tongue. • The procedures for education in the mother tongue • Meeting with children IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO are known to parents and children. • Budget documents reviews • Methods that will provide education in mother • Curriculum research tongue respect children’s rights. • Educators and administrators who will provide education in mother tongue are empowered with in- service training on educational content that respects children’s rights. PROCESS INDICATORS -3

DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children are given the right • Number of media products belonging to different • Ebeveynler ile görüşme to access media products cultures • Medya mensupları, yayınevi sahipleri (TV, newspaper, magazine, • Media products are known to parents and children. sanatçılar ile görüşme online platforms, books, • Institutions that produce media products in the • Çocuklar ile görüşme radio, etc.) in their mother mother tongue are financially supported. • Basın yayın istatistiklerini inceleme tongue.. • All groups can access special incentives for the • Yerel Yöneticilerle görüşme creation of media products. • Sivil toplum temsilcileri ile görüşme • Media products are also accessible to children of low-income families. • There are self-control mechanisms (ombudsman, publication principles, study guides, etc.) that ensure that the contents produced in media institutions comply with children’s rights

PROCESS INDICATORS -4 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method

Children are entitled to • Number of application mechanisms (Region, city, • Meeting with children access application and rural, etc. disaggregated) • Interview with key people and complaint mechanisms • The type of institution where the application experts in their mother tongue mechanisms are located is diverse that all children • Researching the statistics of regarding violations of can access. (mechanisms within the closed institution, Complaint / Application mechanisms, rights they have been hospitals, schools, local governments, etc.) • Applications to obtain information subjected to. • Children know these mechanisms. • Children can have access to these mechanisms in a way that is not discriminatory on the basis of any characteristics such as disability, gender, lack of freedom etc. • The number of applications made by children to these mechanisms on their own • The number of applications made to these mechanisms by the legal representatives of the children. • These mechanisms are safe for children

93 PROCESS INDICATORS - 5 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Detailed information is • Scan State Department reports given to the UN Committee • Sub Indicators • Examining the UN CHK country on the Rights of the Child • Periodic reports are prepared regularly and on time. reports on the specific measures • These reports are discussed with interested parties. • Interviewing key people and experts taken regarding the right • Reports contain information on the subject. of children to develop their • own culture and to use themselves.

RESULT INDICATOR – 1 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children attend institutions • The ratio of the population of the minority to the • Education and population statistics that provide education number of schools • Local management decisions in their own culture and • The number of children attending these schools • Civil society etc. activity reports mother tongue. (gender, disability, rural and urban life, economic status disaggregated) • Number of children who graduated from schools (disaggregated by gender, disability, rural and urban life, economic status)

RESULT INDICATOR – 2 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children use media • Sub Indicators • Data Collection Method products in their mother • The ratio of media products belonging to different • Press publications and population tongue. cultures to all media products statistics • The ratio of the population of minority groups to • Local management decisions the number of media products • Civil society etc. activity reports • Media products printing, circulation, etc. figures • The ratio of the number of opening of media organizations serving in the mother tongue to the number of closures for children.

RESULT INDICATOR – 3

DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children can access justice • Sub Indicators • Education and population statistics through application and • The number of applications made to these • Local management decisions complaint mechanisms mechanisms (gender, disability, rural and urban life, • Civil society etc. activity reports in their mother tongue economic status disaggregated) • News in the press regarding the violations • Number / rate of conclusion of applications made of rights they have been by children on their own (disaggregated by the child subjected to. himself or as the application made by the parents / legal representative)

RESULT INDICATOR – 4 DEFINITION: Sub Indicators: Data Collection Method Children can receive • Sub Indicators • Education and population statistics education in their mother • The number of children attending schools providing • Local management decisions tongue. this education (gender, disability, rural and urban life, • Civil society etc. activity reports economic status, etc.) • The location of the schools providing this education (separated by region, city, rural, big-small city) • Number of courses taught

94 Notes:......

...... IN DIYARBAKIR EDUCATION TONGUE A MOTHER A REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO ......

95 96