According to Bianet News, the Turkish Georgians Platform, a Georgian civic organization in Turkey, has demanded that Georgians have the right to education in their mother language as well as constitutional guarantees for all native languages spoken in Turkey.

Fazlı Kaya, a member of the organization stated to Bianet that: "The definition of citizenship [prescribed] in the constitution imposes a single identity. Everyone who lives in Turkey is a Turk, according to the constitution. This has to be abolished first, and then the constitution has to express the identities and languages of other peoples, too.”

Kaya referred to the recent government decision to introduce native languages spoken in Turkey as elective courses into school curricula as an important step but also expressed reservation with regard to the true motive behind such a move:

"I believe this is a tactical move. We see that the state is still not sincere regarding its attitude toward mother tongues and identities, particularly [in view of] the current state of the Kurdish problem," he said.

The reduction of the demands of the Laz, the Circassians and Georgians solely to the Kurdish problem constitutes an injustice, Kaya said. "Is rebellion the only means to win fundamental human rights?" he asked.

Photo: BIA News Center