For the Love of Languages

On 17 February 2024, in the days leading up to International Mother Tongue Language Day, 70 people gathered in Istanbul to celebrate the rich diversity of languages spoken in Türkiye and to discuss how to sustain use of all current languages in the long term.

Participants were reminded of the rich diversity of languages in Türkiye, but also noted that many people in Türkiye are unaware of many of the languages spoken in villages, city blocks, seaside ports and on mountainsides across the country. Languages like Circassian, Lars, and Pomak are examples of languages many people in Türkiye don’t know exist.

With Finnish Embassy support, Marko Marjomaa, Secretary for Sami Language Affairs of the Sami Parliament of Finland, shared the situation, challenges but also positive state language policies concerning Sami usage and users in Finland.  The possibility of Sami students living in the Sami homeland to have Sami language as the language of instruction in majority of basic education was a source of inspiration for the large group of participants who represented speakers of well over a dozen languages spoken in Türkiye.

The meeting heard how legal gaps, policy choices and resource constraints all impact on the efforts of those in the community who value linguistic diversity and are working for it to remain. As well as hearing from Marko about the situation of the 3 Sami languages in Finland, the gathering heard from an expert on Gaelic/Irish language in Ireland.  Both contexts offer hopeful models now but also share much darker past periods where languages were banned, devalued or disparaged which resonated with the audience of activists in Türkiye.  A wider picture of the situation across the whole European region was provided by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities, Nicolas Levrat, and the legal position in Türkiye was elaborated by Professor Dr. Olgun Akbulut from Kadir Has University.