TURKEY’S KURDISTAN: A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
July 8, 2014 Tuesday
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- I have already spoken about the variety of political
streams in what the Kurdish citizens of Diyarbakir (Amed) like to call
— without any ulterior motive — “Turkey’s Kurdistan” or “Northern
Kurdistan.” It is just a natural name inherited by history. However,
the land of Kurdistan is not inhabited only by Kurds. The ethnic and
cultural tissue of this land is even more varied than its political
structure. “Kurds” and “Kurdish” are appellations that are too general.
A living picture of this multiculturalism appeared when we met some
members of the Council of Forty (Kirklar Meclisi) in the courtyard of
the Surp Giragos Church, the biggest Armenian church in the Middle
East, recently restored at the initiative of Sur Mayor Abdullah
Demirbas. The Council of Forty, organized by Demirbas, brings 46
members representing various communities in rural Diyarbakir together
regularly. Around the table are leaders from the Nakshibendi, Armenian,
Syriac, Nur, Keldani, Turkmen Alevi and Domani (Roms of Kurdistan)
communities. I must confess that I was not only impressed by this
plurality but also became aware of my ignorance in the course of the
discussions we had.
I learned, for example, that Zazas define themselves as Kurds but speak
a very different language from Kurdish Kurmanchi. And Zazas are not
exclusively Alevis living in Dersim; some of them are Sunnis living
in neighboring provinces. Seyh Said, the leader of a Kurdish uprising
in 1925, was a Zaza. I also learned that there are dozens of Turkmen
Alevi villages in Diyarbakir and that there are still four Jewish
households in Diyarbakir. They prefer not to reveal their identity,
which explains, according to Demirbas, why a synagogue is lacking on
his “Street of Cultures,” where a historical mosque, the Surp Giragos
Church, the Keldani Catholic Church and an Alevi house of worship
all welcome their own believers side by side. Unlike Jews, every day
more people are revealing their Armenian identity. Ergun Ayik, the
president of the Diyarbakir Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation,
told us that in the recent past there were only eight Armenians in
Diyarbakir, but now he counts more than 100. Sehmuz Diken, the author
of “Gittiler Iste” (They Have Left), a story of Diyarbakir’s Armenians,
added that hundreds of thousands of descendants of the Armenians who
survived the genocide remain in the region and have started to reveal
their multiple identities.
After the roundtable we visited the Keldani Catholic Church, also
recently restored, which dates back to the fifth century. Yusuf
Karadayi, the leader of the Keldani community, gave us an archive
document describing the Ottoman census done in 1869. According to the
document, in addition to 10,000 Muslims, roughly 8,000 Armenians,
1,500 Syriacs, 1,000 Keldani, 300 Greeks and 300 Jews were living
in Diyarbakir. One thinks about how not just Diyarbakir but Turkey
might have been different if the tragedies during the building of
the nation-state had not occurred.
Demirbas, tireless defender of multiculturalism, was elected mayor
in 2004 with more than 50 percent of the vote, but he was removed
from office and jailed in 2007 because he decided to provide local
services in six languages. He was re-elected in 2009 with over 60
percent of the vote. Diyarbakir liked and embraced the cultural
tolerance. The Sur Municipality erected a monument in the name of
the victims of ethnic cleansings. On the monument one can read, “We
experienced the pain so that it is not suffered again,” in Kurdish,
Turkish, English, Armenian, Hebrew and Pontus Greek. So, it is not so
surprising to learn that a demonstration organized by LGBT (Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) individuals was recently held in
Diyarbakir but it was not possible to hold such demonstration in Bursa.
Before finishing this piece, let me remark that multiculturalism
presents a great challenge to offering an education in the mother
tongue. Indeed, Kurmanchi, the most used language in the region, may
not be the only new language in the future. Education in other mother
tongues should also be considered. As I noted in my last column,
learning Turkish perfectly is a must in order to prevent inequality
of opportunity; a double language education system should be envisaged.
The approach of the recently established Selahaddin Eyubi University
regarding this issue is worthy of note. They decided to make Turkish
the main language of education but to also push the students to learn
English through intensive courses given by instructors who are native
speakers as well as to encourage all students to learn Kurmanchi.
However, Kurmanchi will be obligatory for students in the university’s
medical faculty. And last but not least, the students in the commerce
department have to learn Syriac!
SEYFETTIN GURSEL (Cihan/Today’s Zaman) CIHAN