Syrian Turkmen demand recognition of mother tongue

By Selen Temizer

GENEVA (AA) - Syrian Turkmen have demanded official recognition of their language -- alongside Arabic -- in regions in which they predominate, a Syrian Turkmen official said Wednesday in Geneva.

“We insist -- and are working on -- securing a constitutional right to using our mother tongue,” Emin Bozoglan, secretary-general of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, told Anadolu Agency.

“We demand that our language be made the second official language, alongside Arabic, in majority-Turkmen areas,” Bozoglan said, adding that they had the support of other opposition groups.

The Syrian Turkmen Assembly is currently participating -- as part of an opposition delegation -- in the ongoing fourth round of Syria peace talks in Geneva.

Regarding the talks, Bozoglan said the opposition’s primary demand was for an interim Syrian administration established on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Bozoglan went on to assert that Russia had failed to keep its promises -- on the need to maintain Syria’s fragile ceasefire -- made at last month’s talks in Astana.

Syrian opposition and regime representatives met in the Kazakh capital on Jan. 23 and 24 to discuss the terms of a ceasefire brokered earlier by Turkey and Russia.

“Russia turns a blind eye to the Assad regime’s ceasefire violations. It [Russia] is not being objective; it continues to show support for the regime,” the Turkmen official said.

He went on to say the regime sought to prolong the negotiation process in the belief that this was in its best interest.

“The regime feels it has an advantage as it controls most of Syria and -- on the international level -- has the support of both Russia and Iran,” Bozoglan said.

He added that the opposition hoped for a breakthrough of sorts by the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The opposition is waiting for a miracle from Trump,” he said. “Because Trump rejects the Obama administration’s previous actions and appears to have new plans for the process.”

Bozoglan said that, following the recent liberation of the town of Al-Bab from Daesh, the next target should be the towns of Manbij and Tal Abyad, which are now under the control of the PYD terrorist group, the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian affiliate.

“This way, Turkey can contain or eliminate the terror nests,” he said, noting that such steps were “essential” to any future advance on the city of Raqqa, Daesh’s primary stronghold in Syria.