<div dir="ltr"><h2>Turks love their language, but also fight over it</h2>
<p class="essay">Each year on Sept. 26, Turkey proudly
celebrates its annual Turkish Language Day with conferences and festive
ceremonies around the country. This year was no exception, with many
leading politicians issuing statements calling on the Turkish people to
continue their efforts to cherish the Turkish sensibility of language
for future generations. President <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2016/gundem/erdogan-turkcemize-sahip-cikmak-hepimizim-sorumlulugu-1413614/">Recep Tayyip Erdogan</a>
said that Turkish is an “assurance of our people’s unity and
solidarity.” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hailed Turkish as a language
that is among the most important and prevalent ones in the world, in
terms of its geographical spread, the number of people who speak it and
its richness. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s
Party, extensively praised the heritage Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s reforms
produced for the Turkish language.
</p><div class="gmail-stats gmail-hidden-phone gmail-span6" id="gmail-infobox">
<div class="gmail-row-fluid" id="gmail-summary"> <span class="gmail-title">Summary<a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-ongoing-wars-over-turkish-language.html#" style="font-family:ss-standard;font-size:120%;color:rgb(0,0,0);float:right;text-decoration:none" title="Click here to Print this article">⎙ <span style="font-size:60%;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Print</span></a></span> Turks proudly celebrate their language, but they have always fought over it. </div>
<div class="gmail-row-fluid"> <span class="gmail-span6"> <span class="gmail-title">Author</span> <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/authors/riada-asimovic-akyol.html"><span class="gmail-byline-name">Riada Ašimović Akyol</span></a></span><span class="gmail-span6 gmail-dateline" title="October 4, 2016 05:03 CDT"> <span class="gmail-title">Posted</span> October 4, 2016 </span></div>
<div class="gmail-row-fluid"> <span class="gmail-span6"> <span><span style="color:darkblue;font-size:9pt;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase;text-decoration:underline">
</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<p>As a foreigner who learned Turkish as my fifth language, let me tell you that the Turkish mother tongue is quite <a target="_blank" href="http://www.economist.com/node/15108609">difficult to learn</a>
— as an example, how about
"Cekoslovakyalilastiramadiklarimizdanmissiniz" as one word — but also
very beautiful and captivating. What is even more fascinating, though,
is the political wars that are waged over the language.</p>
<p>One of the most important fronts in these wars is between the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/turkey-ottoman-language-alevis-kurds-secular-turks-reacts.html">“old” and the “new” Turkish</a>, and the ideologies that both symbolize in Turkish minds. The former reflects loyalty to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/erdogan-ottoman-turkish-mandatory-language-instruction.html">Ottoman past</a>,
while the latter refers to Ataturk’s so-called language revolution.
Today, proponents and opponents of historical changes of the Turkish
language continue clashing on the legacy left from the early Republican
era.</p>
<p>The root of the problem is modernization. There was no strict
language policy in the very diverse and multilingual Ottoman Empire. But
in time a huge problem arose, as minorities — allowed to speak their
own languages — could not understand Turkish people who spoke folk
Turkish, perceived as a nomad language at the time. Moreover, the
Ottoman language, a “higher” Turkish with strong influences of Persian
(seen as the language of science and literature at the time) and Arabic
(for its importance as the language of the Holy Quran), was spoken by
the privileged ones in the palace. Something had to be changed. This
first came with the Tanzimat (Reform) era that began in 1839. So by the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, attempts for language simplification
aimed at a “New Language” (Yeni Lisan) that everyone would understand
were well in place.</p>
<p>When Ataturk came to power, he launched a “language revolution” as
one of the most important tools for homogenizing the nascent nation. In
1928, the Arabo-Persian Ottoman script was changed to the Latin
alphabet. Moreover, the Turkish Language Institute (TDK), founded in
1932, engaged in an effort to create “pure Turkish” (oz Turkce) by
purging foreign elements and then standardizing to assimilate local
dialects and languages. As academic <a target="_blank" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4289953">Yilmaz Colak</a>
noted, “It was one of the constituent parts of the planned secular
conversion from the imperial religious to national secular culture.”</p>
<p>As a result of that “<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4289953">linguistic engineering</a>,”
speakers of today’s Turkish can choose between different words with the
same meaning. Usually, this reflects one’s education, political
orientation or background, so that a more religious Turk and practicing
Muslim will prioritize usage of Ottoman-, Arabic- or Persian-influenced
words. On the other hand, one who is more secular and republican
nationalist will probably use “pure” Turkish words introduced by the
language reform — or merely use Western words. For example, the words
“mustesna,” “ozel” and “spesifik” mean the same thing, but they reflect
traditionalism, Ataturkism and Westernism, respectively. One study <a target="_blank" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/41478266">confirmed</a>
how Turkish politicians also choose words attentively and “borrow their
words from the languages they associate with their political
orientation.”</p>
<p>Erdogan is one such politician who is careful about language. Last year, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-aspires-for-kulliye-instead-of-university-campuses.aspx?pageID=238&nid=76613&NewsCatID=338">he stated</a>
at the opening of a private university, “It would be more beautiful if
we say ‘kulliye’ [Ottoman architectural concept] instead of 'campus.'”
It is also not surprising that Erdogan and his Justice and Development
Party (AKP) deputies and followers praise Ataturk as a Gazi when they
refer to him. Yet Mustafa himself had dropped that title — a word of
Arabic origin — when the parliament gave him the name Ataturk (“Father
of Turks”) in 1934, soon prohibited by law for any modification or use
by anyone else. Expectedly, today the secularists use Ataturk — and
rarely ever Gazi — when referring to him.</p>
<p>Another aspect of Ataturk’s language revolution was to force
non-Muslims and non-Turkish Muslims (such as Kurds) to speak Turkish.
This had a role in the making of “the Kurdish question,” and Kurds
rightfully demanded the right to use their language in public, which was
banned by Turkey’s past linguistic illiberalism. The list of positive
steps that the AKP has taken while in power to offer more freedom for
Kurds to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/politika/404433.aspx">practice Kurdish</a>
in public is not short. Unfortunately, the Kurdish demands do not end
with those related to language, but extend to political claims that the
government is unwilling to accept.</p>
<p>The main parties seem united on this matter, but the Nationalist
Action Party is more hawkish than others. Its leader, Devlet Bahceli, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2016/gundem/erdogan-turkcemize-sahip-cikmak-hepimizim-sorumlulugu-1413614/">used</a> Turkish Language Day this year as an opportunity not only to panegyrize the Turkish language, but also to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/interior-minister-orders-reinstating-of-kurdish-name-plate-in-trustee-appointed-municipality.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103851&NewsCatID=341">criticize</a>
the government for any accommodation of Kurdish demands like education
in their native language as a “wrongdoing” and a “sin.” Bahceli said,
“Turkish is an oath; Turkishness is an honor. … Let’s not forget, the
dream we saw is Turkish, our ideals are Turkish, our country is Turkey,
and the hope and horizon of all of us is Turkey.”</p>
<p>New battles over the Turkish language have lately been added to existing tensions. Since July, Turkey has been traumatized by a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/turkey-coup-democracy-or-dismantling-military.html">failed military coup</a> that the government blames on the Gulen community. Hence, the Foreign Ministry is doing its best to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-moves-to-prevent-gulens-turkish-olympics-language-competition.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103101&NewsCatID=341">prevent</a> festivals and cultural activities previously organized by the Gulenists from being held.</p>
<p>There are even controversies about patriarchy and misogyny
transmitted through language. Earlier this year, the TDK's definition of
the word “dirty” <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-language-body-criticized-for-sexist-definition-of-dirty.aspx?pageID=238&nID=98614&NewsCatID=339">caused</a>
a flood of anger, because it gave as an example a “[woman] who is
menstruating.” Similar reactions occurred earlier for the word “musait,”
a Turkish word of Arabic origin meaning “available,” because the TDK
explained it as a “[woman] who is available to flirt with and who can
easily flirt.” Despite harsh criticisms, the TDK <a target="_blank" href="http://www.diken.com.tr/tdk-tepki-ceken-kirli-sozcugu-icin-guncelleme-karari-aldi-bu-tanimlar-halk-arasinda-var-basina-mecaz-ibaresi-eklenecek/">defended</a> itself by claiming these definitions exist among people. Unfortunately, as critics rightly <a target="_blank" href="https://ttin.uk/dirty-language">point</a>
out, “Through its many proverbs and expressions, the Turkish language
has for decades allowed certain ideas about women to normalize actions
of violence against them.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, critics complain that every new rule the TDK comes up
with only creates more complications in the language. Linguist and
writer <a target="_blank" href="http://www.karar.com/guncel-haberler/turkcenin-artik-bir-imlasi-yok-259532">Feyza Hepcilingirler</a>
stated, “Instead of dealing with punctuation rules [related to freshly
publicized changes for writing names of institutions], [the] TDK should
[take] steps [to preserve the] Turkish [language] from degenerating
tendencies and attacks from English.” Haberturk daily’s writer Murat
Bardakci harshly <a target="_blank" href="http://www.haberturk.com/yazarlar/murat-bardakci/1303679-allah-askina-su-turkcenin-yakasini-artik-birakin">criticized</a>
these changes as “nonsensical, unnecessary and confusing,” suggesting
that no language in the world has probably been as pillaged or suffered
as much as Turkish. Again, the TDK <a target="_blank" href="http://www.diken.com.tr/kesme-isareti-kurali-31-yildir-var-diyen-tdk-bunu-ilkokul-cocuklari-bile-biliyor/">responded</a>
combatively to media criticism for publishing news without consulting
them first, stating that this is not a new decision and “even primary
school kids know [these punctuation rues].”</p>
<p>But while the TDK receives tough love for its decisions, others
successfully promote interest in language and inspire interest for words
both new and old. The forgotten words and their beautiful meanings that
Banu and Onur Ertugrul have passionately <a target="_blank" href="http://www.yenisafak.com/hayat/yeniden-hissikalbelvuku-2224809">shared</a> on their <a target="_blank" href="http://www.guzelkelimelerdukkani.com/">Lugat 365</a> social media accounts since 2015 have become a sensation in Turkey, regardless of fans’ identities. The couple intended to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.milliyet.com.tr/gizli-hazine-kelimeler-gundem-2088783/">popularize words</a>
that are no longer used among younger generations — their effort became
so popular that the couple’s initiative has spread to a published book
and on posters, bags, artistic objects and widely sold T-shirts.
Separately from the commercial side, the enthusiastic Ertugruls
successfully transmitted their appreciation for the value of old words
into meaningful and attractive treasure.</p>
<p>So many different divisions continue to plague Turks. If only the
Turkish language, with all its beauty, did not have to suffer from
language battles its speakers bring upon themselves.</p><div style="overflow:hidden;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:left;text-decoration:none;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color"><br>Read more: <a style="color:rgb(0,51,153)" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-ongoing-wars-over-turkish-language.html#ixzz4MDqsfxTK">http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-ongoing-wars-over-turkish-language.html#ixzz4MDqsfxTK</a><br></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>