Turkey’s Health Ministry has come under fire due to the absence of Kurdish among the five language options recently added to the electronic prescription system of the country, where Kurds are the largest ethnic minority, making up around 18 percent of the population.
After Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend that English, German, Arabic, French and Russian were added as language options in the system, healthcare workers, human rights defenders and politicians criticized the absence of Kurdish.
Miraç Laçin Uluğ, president of the Pharmacists Solution Association Board, said Kurdish is the most widely used language in social and family life in Turkey after Turkish.
“With millions of people using this language, what could the reason be behind the absence of the only language that might actually serve a purpose in this remarkable innovation?” he added.
Renkli Reçete Sistemine doktorlarımız için büyük bir inovasyon ile İngilizce, Almanca, Fransızca, Arapça dillerinde E-Reçete yazma imkanı getirildi.
1) Doktor tarafından yazılan reçetenin muhattabı hasta değil, Eczacıdır. Türkiye’de Eczacılık yapabilmek için Türkçe bilmek… pic.twitter.com/2XzuNP4nbi
— Miraç Laçin Uluğ (@EczMirac) August 26, 2023
The Şırnak Bar Association also submitted an official application to the ministry for the inclusion of a Kurdish language option in the electronic prescription system over the weekend, releasing a written statement titled “The right to healthcare in the native language cannot be denied.”
Describing the regulation as “necessary but inadequate,” the bar association said the exclusion of Kurdish from among the five languages added to the system is “devoid of legal grounds and far from fairness.”
📢 BASIN AÇIKLAMASI
📍Anadilde Sağlık Hakkı Engellenemez
Sağlık Bakanlığı tarafından 5 dilde hizmet vermeye başlayan E-REÇETEM sistemine Kürtçe'nin eklenmemesi gerekçeden yoksun ve eşitliğe aykırıdır. E-REÇETEM'e Kürtçe'nin de eklenmesi için bakanlığa resmi başvuru yapılmıştır. pic.twitter.com/Ow6EqMmKWH
— Şırnak Barosu – Baroya Şirnexê (@SirnakBarosu) August 27, 2023
“No Kurdish! Millions of Kurds live in this region, yet there is no Kurdish [among the language options]!” Eren Keskin, a prominent human rights activist and lawyer, said in a tweet.
Kürtçe yok!! Bu coğrafyada milyonlarca Kürt yaşıyor ama Kürtçe yok!! https://t.co/H0yazw9old
— Eren Keskin (@KeskinEren1) August 27, 2023
Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), replied to Koca’s announcement about the language options in a tweet, saying the exclusion of Kurdish, the mother tongue of millions of citizens, from the system is “unacceptable.”
He also said the ministry was disregarding the problems Kurdish citizens face in receiving healthcare services due to their mother tongue.
Milyonlarca yurttaşımızın ana dili olan #Kürtçe’nin E-REÇETEM sistemine eklenmemiş olması olması kabul edilemez.Bu durum yurttaşlarımzın sağlık hizmeti almalarnda ana dillerinden kaynaklı sorunları görmezden gelmektir. Rusça’nın Arapça’nın olduğu bir sistemde neden Kürtçe yoktur? https://t.co/ZZQ4N0c0zV
— Sezgin Tanrıkulu (@MSTanrikulu) August 27, 2023
Serhat Eren, a lawyer and MP from the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party (YSP), also criticized the government for omitting Kurdish among the system’s language options.
“Your entire politics revolves around denying the [existence] Kurds. Our existence doesn’t need explanation or proof. But your politics, with your racist and hostile practices, will be judged and condemned in the darkness of history and will be locked up,” Eren said.
Sağlık Bakanı Fahrettin Koca, E-Reçetem sistemine Arapça, İngilizce, Rusça, Fransızca ve Almanca'nın eklendiğini duyurdu.
Kürtçe yok, Kürt yok, Kürt sorunu yok, öyle mi? Tüm siyasetiniz Kürdü inkar etmek üzerine, varlığımız izaha ve ispata muhtaç değil fakat sizin siyasetiniz bu…
— Serhat Eren (@AvSerhatEren) August 27, 2023
“… Where is Kurdish, the ancient language of these lands? Why haven’t you added it to the system?” the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said in a tweet, adding in Kurdish that Koca has never been competent in his own language (Kurdish), either.
Hayırlı olsun tabii ama, bu toprakların kadim dili olan Kürtçe nerede, neden sisteme eklemediniz? Hani Kürt sorunu yoktu, hani Kürtlere ayrımcılık yapmıyordunuz?
Kurdên ku piştgirî didin AKP'ê, gelo hun jî van pirsan napirsin? Birêz Fahrettin Koca qet nebû tu li zimanê xwe jî… https://t.co/4NS3kVDn9j
— HDP (@HDPgenelmerkezi) August 26, 2023
Throughout most of the 20th century, successive governments have imposed outright bans on or suppression of the Kurdish language in Turkey.
Since an attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in July 2016, the government has shut down a number of Kurdish language institutes, dailies, websites and TV channels as part of a crackdown targeting the Kurdish political movement.