Ministry Against the Phrase Kurdish

The "Urfa Private Course of Kurdish Language and Dialects" is, at last, opening after the regulation allowing the teaching of languages and dialects other than Turkish went into effect. The opening ceremony will be on Saturday March 13, at 1 p.m.

The founder and director of the course, Omer Kurt, said he had initially applied to open the course in January 17, 2002 following amendments to the Private Education Law. But Kurt had to wait for two years before opening his course. There have been applications from 11 regions for the Kurdish courses but only the provinces of Batman and Van have received permission to open them.

"We have been trying for a year to give a name to the course," Kurt told Bianet. "We wanted to use the name 'Urfa Private Course of Kurdish Language and Dialects,' but the Exercise and Education Board objected to the phrase 'Kurdish Language,'" said Kurt.

Five teachers will conduct the lessons at the course.

Kurt said they received permission to open and operate the course on January 23, 2004. He said over 300 people had applied for the course on one registration day in December 2003. Half of those who applied were women.

After the opening ceremony on Saturday, the course officials will chat with the guests. (EO/EA/NM)