They are not allowed to write in Kurdish on their shop banners.

Jan 23

My story with language violence started when the Iraqi army took over my city, Kirkuk, in 2017. As a consequence of that incident Kirkuk fully got under control of the Iraqi government. Half of the city’s population is Kurdish. They mostly run their small businesses, such as grocery shops, small factories, butcheries, and salons. They are not allowed to write in Kurdish on their shop banners.

In the city’s universities, professors explain everything in Arabic, although half of students are Kurdish, and this makes it difficult 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! They face difficulties while reading and writing in their mother tongue and [are discouraged from] using Kurdish words while speaking. They are not able to talk, write, and read Kurdish – this takes pieces of their identity away.