Syriac in Turkey again

SYRIAC WATCH:

Turkey’s Syriacs yearn to be able to teach Syriac to their children

21 April 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, İSTANBUL (Today's Zaman)

Turkey’s Syriacs have long been seeking ways to teach their ancient language, culture and religion to their children; they finally asked a court in Ankara to right a wrong and allow them to open schools which would include a Syriac education.

“My family has been living in Anatolia for centuries, but I don’t know Syriac. I wish there were kindergartens that started Syriac language education at an early age,” said Nazan Söğüt, who has a daughter in the eighth grade and a son in the third grade in İstanbul.

“We would like to have schools at the kindergarten level in accordance with the Education Ministry’s instructions and with certain hours of language courses in Syriac. We only want to prevent the death of our 5,500-year-old language,” said Ezel Muratoğlu, a mother of two children who live in İstanbul’s Moda district. The battle of Syriacs in the Turkish bureaucracy has failed a number of times in its effort to teach their children their ancient language. In the middle of last year, the local education authority in İstanbul did not give them permission to open kindergartens that could teach Syriac. The Syriacs then went to the directorate of private schools with the same demand, but to no avail.

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More stories on Syriac in Turkey here, here, here, and links.