Topic: 2024-Indigenous Languages
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Divyana Varma
Topic: 2024-Indigenous Languages
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Divyana Varmma
Turkey acknowledges the critical role of indigenous languages and cultural heritage in enriching national and global diversity. As a country with a rich cultural makeup, Turkey recognizes the complexities and value involved in preserving and promoting linguistic variety. According to the UN, indigenous languages are disappearing at an alarming rate, and are set to be extinct by the 2100’s. To combat this concern, collaboration must take place, and coming to a thoughtful resolution is vital. The Republic of Turkey is committed to ensuring that these long-standing languages do not fade into fragments of the past while also ensuring a proper balance of national unity.
In Turkey, the issue of indigenous and minority languages is complex and often politically sensitive. Turkish is the official and dominant language, and the country has historically had a strong emphasis on linguistic unity in support of a cohesive national identity. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, a stress on uniting the nation of Turkey ever since its establishment in 1923 has been prevalent. The Ottoman Empire’s collapse highlighted the risks of division along ethnic lines. In response, Turkey adopted policies prioritizing a homogenous national identity, placing the Turkish language and culture at the center of public life. This framework sought to integrate various ethnic groups into a unified state, building a shared sense of belonging. Turkey is currently home to many diverse communities full of various languages, including Kurdish, Arabic, Laz, Circassian, and Armenian speakers. The most prominent one being the Kurds, the largest indigenous group in the country who primarily reside in southeast Turkey. In the past, efforts made to create an undivided country were seen as efforts against indigenous people, particularly the Kurds. To foster a more integrated national identity, the government emphasized the idea of Turkish as the official language and the primary medium of education and administration. This approach aimed to merge the diverse population under a common cultural and semantic framework, seen as essential for national stability. Measures such as the 1924 ban on non-Turkish language publications and schools were part of broader efforts to reduce regional divisions and strengthen state authority. This policy was part of a larger plan to overcome the fragmented nations’ challenges. The idea of a shared language was meant to make the transition to a novel country smooth. However, gradual shifts have been made in support of a transition into a broader linguistic diversity within Turkey, change in alignment with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural organization.
With the commencement of the decade of Indigenous languages in 2022, UNESCO continues efforts to highlight the importance of Indigenous languages as a staple in society. UNESCO’s global action plan to achieve this goal includes several main objectives, one of which is the integration of Indigenous languages into education through both formal and informal education. As a part of Turkey’s initiatives to promote multilingualism, an elective course called Living Languages and Dialects became integrated into the Turkish curriculum in 2012. This class authorizes children to study in their home language, and offers a variety of languages including Kurdish. This impactful implementation has already provided opportunities for thousands of children. Turkey highlights the importance of integrating language more deeply into education, proposing this approach as a sustainable solution. However, Turkey underscores that integrating Indigenous languages must be balanced to ensure national unity. Promoting Indigenous languages should complement, rather than challenge, a cohesive national identity, ensuring that all citizens share a sense of belonging while celebrating their unique cultural makeup.
