Turkish teachers under investigation for 'racist attitude' toward Kurdish road sign

"A group of teachers in the Karayazi district of Erzurum showed a racist attitude towards the Kurdish signpost."
Four teachers allegedly insulted the Kurdish language (Photo: Social media)
Four teachers allegedly insulted the Kurdish language (Photo: Social media)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A judicial and administrative investigation has been launched against four teachers who photographed themselves making rude gestures in front of a Kurdish road sign in the district of Karayazı in Erzurum, Turkey. 

"It says welcome in the other part of the sign as well, but our reaction to that is obvious," read the social media post that contained the photo of the teachers making the gestures. 

Kurdish organizations and social media users reacted angrily to the picture, seeing it as an example of Turkish racism towards Kurds.

The Kurdish Language Commission of the Diyarbakir (Amed) Bar Association on Twitter condemned the action. 

"A group of teachers in the Karayazi district of Erzurum showed a racist attitude towards the Kurdish signpost and shared this attitude on their social media accounts. Judicial and administrative investigations have been launched into these individuals," it tweeted.

"We condemn this racist and hostile attitude towards the Kurdish language and state that we, as the Kurdish Language Commission of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, will monitor the process so that the investigation can be carried out effectively," it added. 

According to Bilal Çelik from the daily BirGün, the teachers claimed they didn't insult the Kurdish language, the Turkish press agency BIAnet reported. 

"We wanted to emphasize that we would be appointed to another place soon and that we would not come back to Karayazı again," they claimed. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has offered Kurdish as an elective subject since 2012.

However, since a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015, the Turkish government has once again limited Kurdish language signs in public.

In January, Kurdish parties, artists, and institutions launched a campaign in Turkey for the elective courses under the name Kurdî Hilbijêre (Select Kurdish).

Last week, Turkey's Education Ministry imposed a fine on Turkish language teacher Hüdai Morsümbül on the grounds that he spoke Kurdish and Arabic with his students and encouraged them to register for Kurdish elective courses, reported the online news portal Duvar.

Read More: Teacher expelled for speaking Kurdish in Turkey