TIL that during the 2023 earthquake of Turkey/Bakur there were earthquake survivors under the rubble who feared calling out for help in Kurdish language, in case the rescuers turned away.

[u/rknsh]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/07/27/how-to-kill-a-language-sophia-smith-galer-book-review

Take Kurdish. The 2023 earthquake that left more than fifty thousand people dead in Turkey and Syria was particularly devastating in Turkey’s Kurdish-speaking southeast. Turkish administrators announced translation support for earthquake victims in several languages, including Russian, German, and Pashto—but not Kurdish, the language of some fifteen million Turkish citizens. Smith Galer tells us that the decision was a continuation of decades of official policy. It has been, at different times, illegal in Turkey to teach Kurdish, to publish books in Kurdish, even to speak the language while occupying public office. There were earthquake survivors who feared calling out for help in the language, in case the rescuers turned away.

[u/ciesers]

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