A letter from 18-year-old Arîan to Rastî: Who will speak for the Kurds' tomorrow?
RastinewsRastî's inbox occasionally receives criticism, suggestions, and frustration. One message that arrived yesterday gave us pause.
The message was written by Arîan, who is only 18 years old.
They criticize Rastî. "You are falling short," they say. But in doing so, they place before us an issue far larger than Kurdish media: Kurdish youth, language, migration, assimilation, the economy, and a rapidly changing society.
That an 18-year-old would take these issues to heart, sit down to think them through at length, and then write to a news site genuinely moved us.
That is why we wanted to convey what Arîan said to our readers largely in their own words, without excessive editing.
Arîan begins the letter by introducing themselves:
"I am only 18 years old. But due to being born Kurdish and the influence of my family's political traditions, I am a Kurd who takes the nation to heart, along nationalist lines. My family, meanwhile, comes from a socialist tradition."
They then go on to directly criticize Rastî:
"In my view, Rastinews falls short on propaganda. Beyond that, I see a media approach that does not adequately address Kurdish sociology."
One of the issues Arîan dwells on most is the Kurdish language. But they see not only language, but also migration and the social change taking place in Kurdish geography as parts of the same problem:
"Issues such as the declining rate of Kurdish speakers, the de-Kurdification of Kurdistan's geography, the migration of 10 million people, and the emergence of a Kurdish sociology that lacks national consciousness and seeks its place entirely within the Turkish state are not being adequately addressed."
They also make separate room for Kurdish youth living in western Turkey.
They say that some young people being drawn into gang activity, drugs, and prostitution cannot be explained by individual choices alone. They want economic hardship, the loss of a sense of belonging, and young people's inability to see a future ahead of them to also be discussed.
"Believe me, there are thousands of reasons behind this that need to be discussed."
Another topic Arîan raises for discussion is Turkish-Kurdish marriages. They look at these marriages particularly through the lens of how language and culture are passed on to children:
"Even Turkish-Kurdish marriages are, on their own, an issue that needs to be examined in terms of Kurdish assimilation. In particular, the failure to pass on language and cultural identity to the next generations within the family can further accelerate the assimilation process."
And at the end of the letter, they state clearly what they want to tell Rastî:
"What I want to say is this: it is not enough to address the Kurdish issue only through daily political developments, party statements, or clashes. It is also necessary to discuss how Kurdish society is transforming, why it is experiencing a loss of national consciousness, and why it is culturally regressing both in its own geography and in the diaspora."
Their final sentence is addressed to us once again:
"I think that, from this perspective, Rastinews needs to focus more on the sociology, demographics, cultural transformation, and national consciousness of the Kurds."
Arîan is 18 years old.
They criticized us. And rightly so.
Because sometimes a few paragraphs sent by a reader can place a new file on the newsroom's desk.
On the file Arîan has left, there is just one question:
Where is Kurdish society headed?