“Our language is a fundamental and essential pillar of our existence, national identity, and homeland,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in a post on X on Friday.
“On International Mother Language Day, I emphasize the importance of developing the sweet Kurdish language and the languages of all components of Kurdistan," he added.
He described language as a "fundamental basis of our national, homeland, and cultural identity," and said that all people from Kurdistan should protect their mother tongue.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also placed value on protecting the Kurdish language, in a post on X.
He noted the crucial role of "every Kurd, especially the institutions of the Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as our cultural, scientific, and academic institutions, which must give great importance and attention to the Kurdish language.”
The prime minister also reaffirmed the Kurdistan Regional Government's commitment to valuing languages “of all ethnic components of the people of Kurdistan.”
Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in a post on Facebook thanked writers, poets, linguists, and all those who have contributed to the development of the Kurdish language referred to them as ”guardians of the Kurdish language” who have made sacrifices to protect Kurdish as a “symbol of our national identity.”
Kurdish is composed of four main dialects: Upper Kurdish (Kurmanji or Badini), Central Kurdish (Sorani), Lower (Southern) Kurdish, and Zazaki-Gorani.
There are large Kurdish populations in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, but the language is only officially recognized in Iraq.
In Turkey, the official use of Kurdish was banned for almost a century. The ban has been lifted, but Kurds still face difficulties freely learning and speaking their mother tongue.
In Syria, the language is yet to be officially recognized. The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) made Kurdish an official language within the regions it controls.
Iran’s constitution recognizes Persian as the official language but allows for the use of “regional and tribal languages” in the press and mass media, and for teaching the literature of those languages in schools. Kurdish teachers and activists, however, have fought for years for this right to be implemented.
