“One of the most beautiful things I remember about her was when she said, ‘Teacher, I will learn Kurdish better.’

They could not stay here. They said that Malatya was more beautiful than here and they did not want to stay here. There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason was that they were ‘Kurds.’ It made them feel helpless in this foreign city and it would also cause them to lose their own identity. Knowing that this would result in a horrible life, they could not stay here and returned to Malatya.”

- Jiyan, Kurmanji speaker and teacher in Bakur (name changed to protect privacy)

"My first memory of which I felt really oppressed was seeing my grandfather digging a hole in our garden in front of our house. He put the gramophone and all the disks into the hole, then covered it with dirt and laid a carpet on it. I didn't understand! I was questioning, why is my grandfather doing that? While I was questioning my grandmother, she was encouraging him to hurry, she had an anxious voice, and I was told not to say anything. Especially not talk in Kurmanji! But we don't speak Turkish!”

- Sevim Zelal Tonbul, Kurmanji speaker in Bakur, Turkish-occupied Kurdistan

“My native dialect was Mukriyanî, a sub-dialect of Central Kurdish, and it held official status in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan due to its rich literary history. After our village was tragically bombed by Turkish fighter jets, we were forced to flee to the city and rebuild our lives. This was essentially a fresh start, albeit under much harsher circumstances. Nostalgia for our previous life began to swell within me, and I couldn't help but reflect on how we survived such a catastrophe, known as the Zargally Massacre. During my teenage years, I started to appreciate my language even more deeply and began to wonder how such an ancient treasure of humanity could be so overlooked by the world.”

- Dewran Mahmud, Sorani, Kurmanji, and Kelhorî speaker living in Bashur

“In the city’s universities, professors explain everything in Arabic, although half of students are Kurdish, and this makes it a big difficulty for them to understand what they are studying. Therefore, Kurdish parents have started to send their children to Arabic schools to make studying at university easier for them. This may not seem like a big issue for most people, but it is!”

- Sarah Ali Mohammed Amin, 22-year-old Sorani speaker in Bashur

"I was asking my parents about the situation back when they were in school. I remember they were telling me about how they were beaten up for speaking Kurdish. This is always an example that I highlight. It might sound very simple – ‘okay, you don’t speak the country’s language’ – but it means this violence starts at a very young age, and this is where the first step of assimilation starts.”

- Rojda Arslan, Kurmanji and Zazakî speaker living in Germany