A quarter century of online discussions on Arabic and Kurdish in Turkey: a comparative analysis of language attitudes and controversies

Hasan Berkcan Şimşek

doi:10.1515/multi-2024-0176

Article

A quarter century of online discussions on Arabic and Kurdish in Turkey: a comparative analysis of language attitudes and controversies

Hasan Berkcan Şimşek

Published/Copyright: June 3, 2025

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Submit Manuscript Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal Multilingua Volume 44 Issue 5

Abstract

Over the past two decades, Turkey has introduced reforms to enhance the linguistic rights of its two most widely spoken minority languages, Kurdish and Arabic, marking a departure from its historically monolingual policies. Violations of linguistic rights and continued shifts toward Turkish continue, though, explained by previous research as resulting from poor policy implementation. Language attitudes and ideologies at the grassroots level also play a critical role in the effectiveness of language policies, however, but these remain largely overlooked both in research and policymaking. This study therefore systematically analyzes 2,075 topic titles and 10,000 individual comments posted about Kurdish and Arabic on a popular Turkish online forum between 1999 and 2024, revealing a pervasive ideology of normative monolingualism and widespread negativity toward both languages, despite the reforms that were introduced. Kurdish receives a more positive reception than Arabic, but its use is still considered controversial, particularly in political and educational contexts. Because Arabic is often linked to political Islam and Syrian refugees, it is viewed quite negatively. The study thus shows that well-intentioned language policies still have to be implemented in actual contexts, and that grassroots attitudes and ideologies may contribute to thwarting their effectiveness. Policymakers wishing to increase the success of their language policies may have to work on creating a favorable reception of these policies, not least in major online social spaces.

Özet

Son yirmi yıl içinde Türkiye, en yaygın konuşulan iki azınlık dili olan Kürtçe ve Arapçaya yönelik dil haklarını güçlendirmek için reformlar gerçekleştirerek uzun zamandır süregelen tek dilli politikalardan bir sapma göstermiştir. Ancak, dil hakları ihlalleri ve Türkçeye yönelik dil değişimi hâlâ devam etmekte ve bu durum araştırmalar tarafından dil politikalarının uygulanmasındaki aksaklıklara bağlanmaktadır. Diğer yandan, toplumdaki dil tutumları ve ideolojileri, dil politikalarının başarısı üzerinde kritik bir rol oynamaktadır; ancak bu konu hem araştırmalarda hem de politika bağlamında büyük ölçüde göz ardı edilmektedir. Bu çalışma, popüler bir Türkçe çevrimiçi platformda 1999-2024 yılları arasında Kürtçe ve Arapça ile ilgili 2.075 konu başlığını ve 10.000 farklı yorumu sistematik olarak inceleyerek, uygulanan reformlara rağmen normatif tek dilli ideolojinin hâlâ yaygın olduğunu ve her iki dile de yönelik belirgin bir olumsuzluk bulunduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Kürtçe, Arapçaya kıyasla daha olumlu karşılanmakla birlikte, özellikle siyasi ve eğitimsel bağlamlarda hâlâ tartışmalı bir konumdadır. Arapça ise genellikle siyasi İslam ve Suriyeli mültecilerle ilişkilendirilerek olumsuz tutumlara maruz kalmaktadır. Çalışma, olumlu dil politikalarının uygulanmaya devam etmeleri gerektiğini ve toplumdaki genel tutumlar ve ideolojilerin bu politikaların etkinliğini azaltabileceğini göstermektedir. Dil politikalarının başarısını artırmak isteyen politika yapıcılar, özellikle büyük çevrimiçi sosyal mecralarda bu politikalara yönelik olumlu bir tutum zemini oluşturmak için çaba göstermelidir.

Keywords: language attitudes; language ideologies; minority languages; Turkey; normative monolingualism

Anahtar kelimeler: dil tutumları; dil ideolojileri; azınlık diller; Türkiye; normatif tek dillilik

Corresponding Author: Hasan Berkcan Şimşek, Doctoral School of Philology, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, E-mail: hasanberkcansimsek@gmail.com

Acknowledgements

The reviewers are gratefully acknowledged for their insightful feedback. The author also thanks his PhD supervisor, Dionysios Zoumpalidis, for his guidance; Onur Tuncay Bal for his assistance with data collection; and two additional coders for their contributions to inter-rater reliability.

Conflict of interest: The author states no conflict of interest.
Data availability: Supplementary material is available on Figshare at https://figshare.com/s/30b4eecbb10c9c3f41fb. All the raw data used in this study are publicly accessible on Ekşi Sözlük at https://eksisozluk.com/. Annotations developed for this research are available upon reasonable request, provided they are used exclusively for academic purposes.

References

Ajsic, Adnan & Mary McGroarty. 2015. Mapping Language ideologies. In Francis M. Hult & David Cassels Johnson (eds.), Research methods in language policy and planning: A practical guide, 181–192. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781118340349.ch16Search in Google Scholar

Albury, Nathan. 2020. Language attitudes and ideologies on linguistic diversity. In Andrea Schalley & Susana Eisenchlas (eds.), Handbook of home language maintenance and development, 357–376. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9781501510175-018Search in Google Scholar

Arslan, Sevda. 2015. Language policy in Turkey and its effect on the Kurdish language. Western Michigan University Master’s Thesis. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/620 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Aslan, Senem. 2007. “Citizen, speak Turkish!”: A nation in the making. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 13(2). 245–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537110701293500.Search in Google Scholar

Aydar, Hidayet & Necmettin Gökkir. 2007. Discussions on the language of prayer in Turkey: A modern version of the classical debate. Turkish Studies 8(1). 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683840601138179.Search in Google Scholar

Bayar, Ceren. 2023. Kürtçe ders seçen öğrenci sayısında düşüş [Decline in the number of students choosing Kurdish as an elective]. Gazete Duvar. https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/kurtce-ders-secen-ogrenci-sayisinda-dusus-2015te-80-bin-bugun-23-bin-haber-1650304 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Bayır, Derya. 2022. Kurdish language, Turkish courts. In Gözde Yılmaz (ed.), Non-discrimination in Turkey, 7–35. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-031-08399-0_2Search in Google Scholar

Blommaert, Jan. 1999. The debate is open. In Jan Blommaert (ed.), Language ideological debates, 1–38. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110808049.1Search in Google Scholar

Christofis, Nikos. 2018. The AKP’s “Yeni Turkiye”: Challenging the Kemalist narrative? Mediterranean Quarterly 29(3). 11–32. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-7003144.Search in Google Scholar

Cutler, Cecelia. 2019. Metapragmatic comments and orthographic performances of a New York accent on YouTube. World Englishes 39(1). 36–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12444.Search in Google Scholar

Derince, Mehmet Şerif. 2013. A break or continuity? Turkey’s politics of Kurdish language in the new millennium. Dialectical Anthropology 37(1). 145–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-013-9303-4.Search in Google Scholar

Dixon, John A., Mahoney Berenice & Roger Cocks. 2002. Accents of guilt? Effects of regional accent, race, and crime type on attributions of guilt. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 21(2). 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/02627x02021002004.Search in Google Scholar

Dogu, Burak, Zehra Ziraman & D. Emrah Ziraman. 2009. Web based authorship in the context of user generated content: An analysis of a Turkish web site: Eksi Sozluk. In Daniel Riha & Anna Maj (eds.), The real and the virtual: Critical issues in cybercultures, 119–125. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press.10.1163/9781848880122_013Search in Google Scholar

Dragojevic, Marko, Christofer Berglund & Timothy K. Blauvelt. 2018. Figuring out who’s who: The role of social categorization in the language attitudes process. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 37(1). 28–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927x17706942.Search in Google Scholar

Dragojevic, Marko, Giles Howard & Watson Bernadette. 2013. Language ideologies and language attitudes: A fundamental framework. In Howard Giles & Bernadette Watson (eds.), The social meanings of language, dialect, and accent: International perspectives on speech styles, 1–25. New York: Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

Durham, Mercedes. 2022. Content analysis of social media. In Ruth Kircher & Lena Zipp (eds.), Research methods in language attitudes, 35–50. Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108867788.005Search in Google Scholar

Earl Rinehart, Kerry. 2021. Abductive analysis in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry 27(2). 303–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800420935912.Search in Google Scholar

Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons & Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2024. Ethnologue: Languages of the world. Turkey. https://www.ethnologue.com/country/TR/(Accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Edwards, John. 2013. Sociolinguistics: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/actrade/9780199858613.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Efegil, Ertan. 2011. Analysis of the AKP Government’s policy toward the Kurdish issue. Turkish Studies 12(1). 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2011.563938.Search in Google Scholar

@ekşisözlük. 2024. ekşi sözlük’te 2024 yılında olan biten [ekşi sözlük recap 2024]. [Comment]. Ekşi Sözlük https://eksisozluk.com/entry/171486964.Search in Google Scholar

Eng, James. 2012. Oikos University shooting: Private Christian school catered to Koreans. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/oikos-university-shooting-private-christian-school-catered-koreans-flna643984 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Eren, Arzı & Çise Çavuşoğlu. 2021. Stigmatisation and othering: The case of Syrian students in Turkish schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education 27(13). 1434–1453. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1900422.Search in Google Scholar

Errihani, Mohammed. 2008. Language attitudes and language use in Morocco: Effects of attitudes on “Berber language policy.”. Journal of North African Studies 13(4). 411–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629380701800492.Search in Google Scholar

Esen, Berk & Sebnem Gumuscu. 2019. Killing competitive authoritarianism softly: The 2019 local elections in Turkey. South European Society & Politics 24(3). 317–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2019.1691318.Search in Google Scholar

Fuller, Janet. 2012. Bilingual pre-teens: Competing ideologies and multiple identities in the U.S. and Germany front cover. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Fuller, Janet. 2019. Ideologies of language, bilingualism, and monolingualism. In Annick De Houwer & Lourdes Ortega (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of bilingualism, 119–134. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781316831922.007Search in Google Scholar

Gallagher, Charles F. 1971. Language reform and social modernization in Turkey. In Joan Rubin & Björn H. Jernudd (eds.), Can language be planned? Sociolinguistic Theory for developing nations, 152–169. University of Hawai’i Press.10.2307/j.ctv9zckn9.12Search in Google Scholar

Gençoğlu Onbaşi, Funda. 2015. Social media and the Kurdish issue in Turkey: Hate speech, free speech and human security. Turkish Studies 16(1). 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2015.1021248.Search in Google Scholar

Guy, Gregory R. 1989. International perspectives on linguistic diversity and language rights. Language Problems and Language Planning 13(1). 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.13.1.06guy.Search in Google Scholar

Havinga, Anna D. & Andreas Krogull. 2022. Researching language attitudes based on historical data. In Ruth Kircher & Lena Zipp (eds.), Research methods in language attitudes, 297–312. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108867788.024Search in Google Scholar

Irvine, Judith & Susan Gal. 2000. Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In Paul Kroskrity (ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities, 35–84. Santa Fe: SAR Press.Search in Google Scholar

Istanbullu, Suat. 2024. Changing ideologies about Arabic in Turkey and the consequences in Antioch. Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics 2(1). 75–93. https://doi.org/10.3366/arabic.2024.0023.Search in Google Scholar

Jensen, Amy Lynn. 2017. The sociolinguistic role of Ottoman Turkish and Arabic in Turkish nationalism. Istanbul: Sabancı University MA Thesis. https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/34757/(accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Kircher, Ruth & Ethan Kutlu. 2023. Multilingual realities, monolingual ideologies: Social media representations of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States. Applied Linguistics 44(6). 1077–1099. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amac076.Search in Google Scholar

Kircher, Ruth & Lena Zipp (eds.). 2022. Research methods in language attitudes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108867788Search in Google Scholar

Kreyenbroek, Philip G. 1992. On the Kurdish language. In Philip G. Kreyenbroek & Stefan Sperl (eds.), The Kurds: A contemporary overview, 53–64. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Lambert, Wallace E., Richard C. Hodgson, Robert C. Gardner & Samuel Fillenbaum. 1960. Evaluational reactions to spoken languages. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 60. 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044430.Search in Google Scholar

Landis, J. Richard & Gary G. Koch. 1977. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33(1). 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310.Search in Google Scholar

Leinonen, Anu. 2022. Struggling against language shift: Kurdish language education in Turkey. Kurdish Studies 10(1). 19–37. https://doi.org/10.33182/ks.v10i1.561. https://kurdishstudies.net/menu-script/index.php/KS/article/view/4 9 July 2024.Search in Google Scholar

Lewis, Geoffrey. 1999. The Turkish language reform: A catastrophic success. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198238560.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Nimer, Maissam & Demet Arpacik. 2023. Education and language policies toward Syrians in the Turkish State: Incorporation of former imperial subjects into the neo-Ottomanist political regime. Comparative Education Review 67(3). 630–649. https://doi.org/10.1086/725440.Search in Google Scholar

O’Neil, Mary Lou. 2007. Linguistic human rights and the rights of Kurds. In Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat (ed.), Human Rights in Turkey, 72–86. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.10.9783/9780812201147.72Search in Google Scholar

O’Rourke, Bernadette & Gabrielle Hogan-Brun. 2013. Language attitudes in language policy and planning. In Carol A. Chapelle (ed.), The Encyclopedia of applied linguistics, 1–4. Oxford: Blackwell.10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0607Search in Google Scholar

Oguz, Zeynep. 2011. Speaking of invasion: Narratives over Arabs in Eksi Sozluk, a virtual community in Turkey. CyberOrient 5(2). 24–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.cyo2.20110502.0002.Search in Google Scholar

Ongur, Hakan Ovunc. 2015. Identifying ottomanisms: The discursive evolution of Ottoman pasts in the Turkish presents. Middle Eastern Studies 51(3). 416–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2014.976622.Search in Google Scholar

Oran, Baskın. 2004. Türkiye’de Azınlıklar: Kavramlar, Lozan, İç Mevzuat, İçtihat, Uygulamalar [Minorities in Turkey: Concepts, Lausanne, Domestic Legislation, Jurisprudence, practices]. İstanbul: Tesev Yayınları.Search in Google Scholar

pena. 2019. Ekşi Sözlük 20. yıl belgeseli 2. bölüm [Ekşi Sözlük 20th anniversary documentary part 2]. YouTube https://youtu.be/R5By7Dmyfwo?si=bbV20IdA31n42_n7 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Presidency of Migration Management. 2024. Up-to-date statistics. https://en.goc.gov.tr/temporary-protection27 (accessed 9 July 2024).Search in Google Scholar

Ricento, Thomas. 2006. Language policy: Theory and practice — an introduction. In Thomas Ricento (ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method, 10–23. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, Ellen Bouchard, Giles Howard & Richard J. Sebastian. 1982. An integrative perspective for the study of attitudes towards language variation. In Ellen Bouchard Ryan & Howard Giles (eds.), Attitudes towards language variation: Social and applied contexts, 1–19. London: Edward Arnold.Search in Google Scholar

Saldaña, Johnny. 2013. The coding manual for qualitative researchers, 2nd edn. Los Angeles: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Sarmini, Iman, Emel Topçu & Scharbrodt Oliver. 2020. Integrating Syrian refugee children in Turkey: The role of Turkish language skills (A case study in Gaziantep). International Journal of Educational Research Open 1. 100007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100007.Search in Google Scholar

Scalbert Yücel, Clémence. 2023. Kurdish language rights, mobilisations, and representations in the Justice and Development Party’s era. In Fulvio Bertuccelli, Mihaela Gavrila & Fabio L Grassi (eds.), Minorities and Diasporas in Turkey: Public images and issues in education, 43–58. Rome: Sapienza Università Editrice. https://www.editricesapienza.it/book/8572 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Schiffman, Harold F. 1996. Linguistic culture and language policy. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Şimşek, Hasan Berkcan. 2024. Cyber-moral panic and language: Criminalisation of Arabic in Turkish social media from 1999 to 2024. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Taylor & Francis 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2404127.Search in Google Scholar

Şimşek, Hasan Berkcan. 2025. Echoes of the Turkish language reform: Attitudes to Arabic and Persian loanwords in discourse. Turkish Studies. 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2024.2447874.Search in Google Scholar

Spolsky, Bernard. 2006. Language policy failures. In Martin Pütz, Joshua Fishman & JoAnne Neff-van Aertselaer (eds.), Along the routes to power: Explorations of empowerment through language, 87–106. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110923247.87Search in Google Scholar

Trask, Robert Lawrence. 2005. Key Concepts in Language and linguistics. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Vessey, Rachelle. 2013. Too much French? Not enough French? The vancouver olympics and a very Canadian language ideological debate. Multilingua 32(5). 659–682. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2013-0031.Search in Google Scholar

Vessey, Rachelle. 2016. Language ideologies in social media: The case of pastagate. Journal of Language and Politics 15(1). 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.15.1.01ves.Search in Google Scholar

Virtanen, Özlem Eraydin. 2003. Recent changes in Turkey’s language legislation. Mercator Working Papers No. 11. Barcelona: CIEMEN. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED479897 (accessed 5 January 2025).Search in Google Scholar

Walsh, Olivia. 2022. Discourse analysis of print media. In Ruth Kircher & Lena Zipp (eds.), Research methods in language attitudes, 19–34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108867788.004Search in Google Scholar

Yağmur, Kutlay. 2001. Languages in Turkey. In Guus Extra & Durk Gorter (eds.), The other languages of Europe: Demographic, sociolinguistic, and educational perspectives, 407–427. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Search in Google Scholar

Yilmaz, Hasan Ali. 2024. Interplays between anti-Islam and anti-migration sentiments in the Turkish context. In Senthan Selvarajah, Nesrin Kenar, Ibrahim Seaga Shaw & Pradeep Dhakal (eds.), Xenophobia in the media, 179–191. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781003431855-16Search in Google Scholar

Zeydanlıoğlu, Welat. 2012. Turkey’s Kurdish language policy. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2012(217). 99–125. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2012-0051.Search in Google Scholar

Zeydanlıoğlu, Welat. 2014. Repression or reform? An analysis of the AKP’s Kurdish language policy. In Welat Zeydanlioglu & Cengiz Gunes (eds.), The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New perspectives on violence, representation and reconciliation, 162–185. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, Hui & Hong Liu. 2020. Standard language ideology and regional putonghua in Chinese social media: A view from Weibo. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 42(9). 882–896. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1814310.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2024-09-13

Accepted: 2025-05-15

Published Online: 2025-06-03

Published in Print: 2025-09-25

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2024-0176

Keywords for this article

language attitudes; language ideologies; minority languages; Turkey; normative monolingualism