Can the minority ethic groups of Turkey speak their native languages in paece?
My grandmother’s native language is Ladino (medieval Spanish of the Sephardic Jews) and although she has never been to Spain, she speaks Turkish with a Spanish accent. Her mother didn’t speak Turkish at all. In no other country (including European countries) the culture of the Sephardic Jews is better accepted than in Turkey. There are concerts (classical and modern music sung in Ladino), theater performances and other cultural activities of the Sephardic Jews in Turkey and there was never a problem with that. My other grandmother grew up in Crete when it belonged to the Ottoman Empire and I witnessed her speaking with her brother in Greek. Kurdish is not only spoken in the Eastern Anatolia but also in Istanbul and other places in Turkey. Just go to the Taksim Square in Istanbul and listen to the taxi drivers there. Many of them speak Kurdish. I have never met any Armenians personally but I’m sure that they can speak Armenian freely as well. Once, I saw a newspaper stand selling “Agos”
