BAKEŞ issues message for mother tongue day
Western Thrace Minority Culture and Education Company (BAKEŞ) published a celebration message on the occasion of 21 February International Mother Language Day.
In the written statement made from the social media account titled "Bakeş Pekem", it was reminded that Western Thrace Turks are still struggling for kindergartens that will provide Turkish-Greek education. In the statement, it was stated that "we will continue our struggle to protect our mother tongue and identity".
The statement made by BAKEŞ is as follows:
"21 February was declared as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO in 1999. Language is the basic element of culture and identity.
It is our mother tongue that carries our social values, culture and language distilled from the ancient Turkish historical accumulation to today.
The mother tongue, which enables us to exist with a sense of identity that makes us "us", is as natural, indispensable and unrestricted a fundamental human right as the right to life.
In the developing world today, Western Thrace Turks are still struggling for education in their mother tongue with the demand for bilingual Turkish-Greek kindergartens.
On the occasion of the International Mother Language Day, we reiterate our demand for bilingual kindergartens in Turkish and Greek, and we declare that we will continue our struggle to protect our mother tongue and identity.
Happy International Mother Language Day!"
