Education Report - Some Turkish Schools Offer Kurdish Lessons

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50	But	Dicle	Erdogan	From	He	Now	Special	Syria	VOA
about	are	as	classes	even	government	he	increasing
is	language	of	rebel	required	some	that	tongue	young

VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report in English. Speaking Kurdish was a crime in Turkey until 20 years ago. More recently the government has eased of its restrictions on the use of the language. , the government is letting some schools offer Kurdish language . Halil Cecen teaches beginning Kurdish to medical students at University in southeastern Turkey. He says people are happy the changes that are now being put into place. he says people have been waiting a long time: or 60 years. One student says he welcomes the . He speaks only a little Kurdish, he says, and sees the classes as a big step, but they only the beginning. He thinks learning Kurdish should be , especially in health education. He says it would be more successful if Kurdish were taught starting at a age. The University is in the mostly Kurdish city Diyarbakir. It is not far from the border with . Syrian Kurds seized control of their region from Syrian forces earlier this year. Now children are learning Kurdish a first language. Kurds in neighboring Iraq have had right for years. But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip recently rejected calls for Kurdish education in the mother . He called it a terrorist demand of the Kurdish group, known as the PKKThe prime minister says there no such thing as education in the mother tongue. says the country's official language is TurkishKurdish politicians face pressure if they violate language restrictions. But the Kurdish and culture are increasingly making their presence felt. For Learning English, I'm Alex Villarreal.

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