MÊRDÎN - Şehriban Defişet was forcibly displaced with her family as a child after her village was evacuated. Years later, she returned to Kurdistan, learned Kurdish and began working to keep it alive.

 

Many Kurds who were subjected to forced displacement due to state repression policies and uprooted from their lands were distanced from their mother tongue and culture through assimilation policies in western metropolises. Şehriban Defişet was one of them. Now the Co-Chair of the Mesopotamia Kurdish Language Association (KOM KURDÎ DER), Şehriban Defişet’s journey of reconnecting with Kurdish was shaped by discrimination and the loss of family members. 

 

Today, Şehriban Defişet, who serves as the co-chair of the association and also receives Kurdish language education at the institution, describes the place of her mother tongue in her life as identity and dignity. 

 

DISCIMINATION SHE FACED AT THE AGE OF 12

 

Şehriban Defişet said her family was forced to migrate Adana after their village in Riha was evacuated in the 1980s. Recounting the discrimination she faced as a child because of her Kurdish identity, Şehriban Defişet recalled an incident she experienced at the age of 12: “In the 1980s, the system destroyed the villages; no one was left. During that period, my family went to Adana. My uncle was arrested, and two members of our family lost their lives. I was 12 years old. I had covered my hair. One day, ı went to my friend’s house. Her mother told her, ‘Don’t play with Şehriban.’ When she asked, ‘Why?’ The mother said, ‘Because they are Kurdish.’ It hurt me deeply at that moment. I went home crying, uncovered my hair, and never covered it again. My mother knew Kurdish but did not know Turkish. However, she would say, ‘We went through hardships, and I don’t want our children to go through the same.’ That is why she did not introduce us much to our Kurdish identity.”

 

Şehriban Defişet said her family was economically targeted after her brother Ferdi Defişet (Botan Hilvan) lost his life in the Mountain Kato area of Elkê (Beytüşşebap) district of Şirnex in 2007. She said: “When my brother lost his life, we were doing well financially. We had a bakery and a grocery store. After the news, we mourned our loss. Later, people started saying, ‘We will not shop from them. We give them money, they send it to terrorists.’ People stopped buying our bread. We quickly fell into debt and lost our businesses, and then we went bankrupt.”

 

DISCRIMINATION AT SCHOOL

 

Şehriban Defişet said she faced discrimination because of her Kurdish identity after going to Yozgat for university. She said she encountered a sign containing insults against Kurds at the entrance to the city. Şehriban Defişet also said that, at the university, the administration was disturbed by Kurdish students coming together. She said that after her brother lost his life, one of her teachers told her, “your brother is a terrorist,” and that these experiences negatively affected her education. Şehriban Defişet recalled: “When I returned to school, my teacher came up to me and said, ‘Your brother is a terrorist.’ I was studying very hard. I got 97 on an exam, but he gave me 57. After that, I stopped going to the classes. I didn’t tell anyone either.”

 

BOTH CO-CHAIR AND STUDENT 

 

After all these experiences, Şehriban Defişet came to Mêrdîn and said she reconnected with the Kurdish language, adding that she took part in the establishment process of KOM KURDÎ DER. Şehriban Defişet said she initially hesitated because she felt her Kurdish was not sufficient, but she nevertheless joined the efforts. She said: “I was told that they wanted to establish a Kurdish language institution. I sad, ‘My Kurdish is not at an academic level, but I want to both learn and take part in the administration.’ At first, I was afraid of making mistakes. I was hesitant because I though I might speak incorrectly. But we established this institution together.”

 

Şehriban Defişet said she has improved her Kurdish by speaking it regularly for around three months. Emphasizing that she is now both the co-chair of the association and a student there, she concluded: “It is never too late for a person to learn their own language. I improved by speaking. Even if I make mistakes twice, I get it right once. Language is truly our existence. Language is identity and dignity. I am still learning and will continue to learn. It is neither too late nor too early. We can achieve this from now on as well.”

 

MA / Haşim Abak