‘Kurdish people have the right to use their own language in public and in education and to receive information in their mother tongue. Our linguistic riches should be celebrated, not destroyed.’ ‘Kurdish people have the right to use their own language in public and in education and to receive information …
Bêtir »Turkish police raid Kurdish institutions in Diyarbakır amid rising tensions
In the early hours of this morning, police raided the Mesopotamian Language and Culture Research Association (MED-DER) and the Payîz Pirtûk bookshop in Diyarbakır (Amed), resulting in the arrest of several staff members. The operation raises concerns over the repression of Kurdish cultural rights in Turkey. Turkish police raided the Mesopotamian …
Bêtir »DEM Party raises issue of Kurdish patient denied treatment in Parliament
The DEM Party brings the case of a Kurdish woman denied treatment in Siirt (Sêrt) for not speaking Turkish to Parliament, urging reforms to allow Kurdish language use in public health services. A Kurdish woman in Siirt (Sêrt) was denied medical treatment because she does not speak Turkish, prompting the …
Bêtir »Journalists killed in airstrike in Iraq’s Kurdistan region
Kurdish media outlets named two journalists killed in the strike while earlier reports from the Iraqi media suggested that a senior PKK member was targeted. A KRG official has condemned the incident as Ankara remains silent. An airstrike targeted a vehicle in the Said Sadiq town of Kurdistan Regional Government …
Bêtir »Pillar of the Kurdish movement, Tarık Ziya Ekinci, dies at 99
Tarık Ziya Ekinci, a prominent Kurdish politician, writer and human rights defender, died on 15 August 2024 at the age of 99. A key figure in the Kurdish movement, Ekinci’s legacy in the struggle for Kurdish rights and democracy in Turkey is widely recognised. Tarık Ziya Ekinci, a Kurdish politician, …
Bêtir »UN: At least 345 prisoners, 15 women executed in Iran in 2024
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed his concern about Iran’s ongoing executions, which disproportionately target minorities, and has called on the Iranian regime to abolish the death penalty. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued a press briefing on Friday expressing deep concern over …
Bêtir »Iran executes 29 prisoners in single day, human rights activists say
Despite widespread opposition to the increasing number of executions in Iran, human rights activists report that at least 30 prisoners were executed in the country’s prisons between 3 and 7 August According to reports published, on the morning of 7 August, the death sentences of 29 prisoners, including two Afghan and one …
Bêtir »Kurdish protester Reza Rasayi executed in Iran’s Kermanshah prison
Kurdish protester Reza Rasayi was secretly executed in Kermanshah Central Prison of Iran, with human rights groups condemning it as an extrajudicial murder based on forced confessions. Kurdish protester Reza Rasayi was secretly executed in Kermanshah Central Prison, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reported on Tuesday. Human rights organisations have condemned the execution …
Bêtir »15 bar associations: Erasing writings in Kurdish harms the culture of coexistence and social peace
15 bar associations reacted against the hostile policies towards the Kurdish language and emphasised that attacks against Kurdish are an indication of intolerance towards the existence and culture of Kurds. 15 bar associations made a joint written statement on the removal of the traffic warning signs “Hêdî (Slowly)” and “Pêşî …
Bêtir »Pakshan Azizi’s prison letter: Concealment and Uncealment of Truth
I am her. She is me. But I am a mere drop in the ocean. You are the ocean. Our flow is inevitable. We are unconcealed. Concealment and Unconcealment of Truth From childhood, she learned the struggle for survival through her mother’s stories and lullabies, which conveyed the essence of …
Bêtir »Elhuyar utilises participatory methodology for linguistic plans
We have also a language technology department that develops automatic translators, voice synthesis technology… and some other tools that help us guarantee or increase the use and presence of Basque not only at work, but in many other areas. This is how for 52 years Elhuyar has developed new units: …
Bêtir »Ecocide in Kurdish regions of Turkey as green landscapes give way to concrete military outposts
In Kurdish-majority Şırnak (Şirnex), Turkey, widespread deforestation for military construction is devastating Kurdish forests, transforming green landscapes into concrete and militarised zones. Extensive deforastaion is paving the way for the construction of military outposts, resulting in an ecological disaster in the Kurdish-majority Şirnak (Şirnex), Turkey. The Gabar, Cûdî and Besta …
Bêtir »Dutch police detains Kurdish journalist
On the morning of May 23, Dutch police arrested Kurdish journalist Serdar Karakoç in Amsterdam at the request of Germany. On the morning of May 23, Dutch police arrested Kurdish journalist Serdar Karakoç in Amsterdam at the request of Germany. Karakoç who was apparently arrested upon Germany’s extradition request, was brought to …
Bêtir »We don’t have our own state to fully revitalize the language
In our context, it is fundamental to say that in Euskal Herria we do not have our own state, so we cannot develop as much as we want the linguistic policy necessary to revitalize a language. We always depend on the Spanish or French states. Our language is a secondary …
Bêtir »Agurne Gaubeka: We need a restorative model that repairs all the injustices
We have to increase the usage of languages and not only the knowledge and that is not only in the will of the people. We must establish spaces for language use, spaces to consume in our languages where all activities can be carried out normally in our languages. Agurne Gaubeka …
Bêtir »The Global Coalition for Language Rights: A space for language justice
While over 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, about half are under threat of extinction or severely endangered, as power relations among languages are far from equal. Many languages require their users to actively work to pass it on to the next generation, the only guarantee they can survive in the …
Bêtir »We need to undertake legal and diplomatic efforts for Şirnex
By Fatoş Demirtaş The situation in Şirnex is unlike any other. During the preparations of the election, a large contingent of soldiers was deployed to Şirnex. We promptly lodged our objections, but they were dismissed, and the occurrence was outright denied. It was the first time they imported votes from …
Bêtir »A plurality of Chinese languages
In the PRC, where Mandarin Chinese is aggressively promoted as the official language, a similar policy is still in place against Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian and other languages, but also against Shanghainese and Cantonese. While English tends to view the ‘Chinese language’ as a monolith, the phrase actually represents a large diversity of both written and spoken languages, …
Bêtir »VVJ and EFJ condemn raid on Kurdish TVs
Ronî Riha The Flemish Union of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists have condemned the raid on the Kurdish media. The Flemish Union of Journalists (VVJ) has issued a press release condemning the illegal raid by the Belgian Federal Police on the Kurdish TV channels Stêrk Tv and Medya …
Bêtir »Call for solidarity with Kurdish media
The police raided two important Kurdish TV channels, which have the mission to inform the Kurdish people, without informing the officials and lawyers of the organisations. During the raid, the police broke the doors, removed the screens, cut the cables, tore up the desks and deliberately damaged the technical equipment …
Bêtir »Kurdish media outlets targeted in Europe condemn ‘double standards’ on free speech
Belgian authorities carried out overnight raids on two Brussels-based Kurdish TV studios. The media outlets condemned the attacks, and vowed to continue free, fair and transparent reporting. Belgian authorities carried out overnight raids on two Brussels-based Kurdish TV studios. The media outlets condemned the attacks, and vowed to continue free, …
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