I følge nyhetsbyrået ANF har konstitusjonsdomstolen vedtatt at det ikke er lov å undervise på kurdisk i skolen. Dette var på bakgrunn av at lærere gjennomførte en streik og under denne streiken holdt de et seminar på kurdisk på skolen. Dette var for å delta i FN-organet UNESCOs markeringsdag for morsmål! En aksjonsform som ikke er kjent for oss i Norge.

De ble dømt til tross for at dette skjedde utenfor den normale undervisningen.

Her er et utdrag fra dommen oversatt av Johan Petter Andresen:

«Når vi ser på den overordnede politikken til republikken Tyrkia, er det fastsatt i Grunnlovens artikkel 42 at morsmålsundervisning skal være på tyrkisk. Derfor kan intet annet språk enn tyrkisk brukes av Tyrkias borgere som morsmål i utdanningsinstitusjoner.»

Her er kilden på engelsk:

Constitutional Court upholds mother tongue ban

ANF | Ankara | 29 July 2022
Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) found no violation in the disciplinary punishment given to 22 unionized teachers who participated in a workshop over one-hour mother tongue education at schools carried out on February 21, 2016 by the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim Sen) as part of UNESCO’s 21 February World Mother Language Day.

Disciplinary investigations were launched against teachers working in primary, secondary and high schools in Lice, Sur and Yenişehir districts of Amed (Diyarbakır) province after they “taught lessons in mother tongue” on February 22, 2016, recommended by the Eğitim Sen. Teachers received reprimands for their lectures on mother tongue held at Eğitim Sen’s suggestion.

When the teachers objected to the reprimands, the Diyarbakır Administrative Courts decided to cancel the disciplinary punishments on the grounds that “their actions remained within the scope of union activities”. While the case was taken to the Regional Administrative Court in Antep province, the court ruled that “the action is not within the scope of union activity, therefore, the act of teaching extracurricular courses violated legislation, procedures and principles determined by the institution and resulted in blocking the right to education, which is a democratic and constitutional right.”

The teachers in question and the Eğitim-Sen appealed to the Constitutional Court, defending that “the right to union, freedom of expression and organizing meetings and demonstrations were violated.”

Give education in Turkish, be loyal to the state
The Constitutional Court, however, rejected the appeal of the union, ruling that, “When we look at the overall policy of the Republic of Turkey, it is stipulated in Article 42 of the Constitution that education in the mother tongue will be in Turkish. Therefore, no language other than Turkish can be used by Turkey’s citizens as their mother tongue in education and training institutions.”

Although the Constitutional Court emphasized that “freedom of thought and expression is of vital importance for a functioning democracy”, it ruled that public officials have a “fidelity obligation” to the state.

The Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that there was no violation in salary cuts and reprimands given to the teachers.