İZMİR - AVESTA, which works to keep the mother tongue alive and provides courses to more than 3 thousand students in 4 years, has started new courses. Association President Ali Yalçınkaya said that there is a new awakening towards learning Kurdish.

 

While the assimilation towards the Kurdish language and culture continues to increase, many language institutions are also working to keep the mother tongue alive. The Language and Culture Research Association (AVESTA), which was established in Izmir in 2018, is one of them. AVESTA is fighting for the use of the language in life, with the courses it opened against the assimilation policies towards Kurdish.

 

While 3 thousand students benefited from the language courses given in 4 years, new courses were started in the first week of 2023. More than 140 students registered in a week for online and formal courses in Kurmanci and Dimilkî dialects of Kurdish. The courses, which are expected to be completed this weekend, will continue until June. The face-to-face language course will be offered on Saturday and Sunday, and the online course will be offered on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

Ali Yalçınkaya

 

'OUR LANGUAGE IS OUR EXISTENCE'

 

AVESTA President Ali Yalçınkaya, who gave information about the courses to be opened, emphasized the importance of the studies carried out against the assimilation policies on Kurdish. Pointing out that languages are wanted to be destroyed by assimilation policies, Yalçınkaya said: “There are languages that have disappeared in the Middle East. The people whose language is lost are also disappearing physically. For this reason, we are trying to protect our existence by working on language because we are in danger of extinction. The limit of my language is the limit of my life. Right now, the Kurdish language is being destroyed, our lives and our world are being made smaller. We are also fighting against it.”

 

WORKS WILL BE EXTENDED

 

Stating that they opened courses to keep the Kurdish language alive and underlined that these studies should also be expanded, Yalçınkaya said: "We will also work on Podcasts-YouTube. Currently, we aim to carry the Kurdish language to every field by making 20-minute Podcasts by covering mythological subjects from the Sumerians. In addition, we will use social media networks more and create visuals. We have worked on that; however, these studies are insufficient to prevent the extinction of language. It develops by using language.”

 

INTENSIVE ATTENTION TO KURDISH

 

Stating that there has been a new awakening towards learning Kurdish in the last two years, Yalnçınkaya said: "Especially university students and women have embraced Kurdish. Young people call every day, they say, 'When will your lessons start, we are waiting'. Classes are full on registration. Our classes are full, but we have preparations. Previously, we had problems in Izmir in terms of classrooms; however, we currently have enough classrooms and teachers. We will open new classes as our classes fill up."

 

'WE SHOULD LEARN OUR LANGUAGE'

 

Making a call to protect the Kurdish language, Yalçınkaya said: “The works we are doing at the moment are works of existence and non-existence. In the future, these works will occupy a very important place. We should keep our language alive not only in courses, but in all areas of life, at home, at work and in institutions. We also record on social media accounts. We are waiting for our friends who want to join the course."

 

MA / Delal Akyüz