Living in Two Homes by Mariella Espinoza Herold Rina Manuela Contini

Author:Mariella Espinoza Herold, Rina Manuela Contini [Mariella Espinoza Herold, Rina Manuela Contini]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Emigration & Immigration, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching
ISBN: 9781787146303
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2017-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

Educational Opportunities for Kurds in Istanbul

While general public education was perceived by almost all respondents as reproducing domination of Turkish culture and the idea of a single nation-state, they did, however, appreciate the level of education and educational possibilities available in Istanbul. Some of them migrated precisely for this reason. They pointed not only to quality of teaching and high prestige of universities functioning in the city, but also to the presence of majors that cannot be found elsewhere in the country. The multiculturalism of the city and atmosphere of political and social freedom were also cited as decisive reasons for choosing to study in Istanbul instead of the other city including Ankara which also has prestigious universities. This was underlined especially by respondents who studied majors such as international relations or English philology, for which the international character of the city is seen as a definitive advantage. Respondents observed also that because of the variety of high level education possibilities, it is an excellent place for Kurdish students to achieve degrees. Only recently high-quality higher education began to be available in Northern Kurdistan. Such an important cultural role of Kurdish community in Istanbul was explicitly stated by the student of geography from Ağrı, who was also active in a of Kurdish academic journal:

Not counting last two years, I can say that Istanbul is a place producing knowledge for Kurds, because Kurds generally work hard in this academic area, they work hard on literature, and because they succeed they prefer universities here, and when they are students here they start such works. It can be that because most of them don’t come back to Kurdistan, being here they produce knowledge, and at the same time because they can really organize themselves in a free way and they can create activities, because the greatest Kurdish population in Turkey is in Istanbul. Obviously these reasons play an important role in their choosing this place.

(Respondent from Ağrı)

All interviewees praised both cultural and economic opportunities that were available in Istanbul, although it was usually noted that the city requires a lot of resources to live in and the more money one has the more he enjoys it. However, respondents claimed that Istanbul offers many more job opportunities and a broader range of cultural activities than their places of origin. This was expressed by a woman from Bitlis:

On the one hand Istanbul is the city of Kurdish assimilation. For migrating families, a city where especially children are being assimilated. From this perspective it is a bit dangerous, but besides that, as for the cultural activities, region where we live offers limited possibilities. For example it is very difficult to find there a book in Kurdish, because there is no publishing house, there is no bookstore. Because there is no theatre neither is a Kurdish theatre, and there is no chance that you will like that you would go to a cinema and watch a Kurdish movie, and we are not able to comfortably organize ourselves.

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