Dribbling in the Dark -- by Andrew W. Jones
June 12, 2023 10:42 PM Subscribe
What it’s like to be 14 in a new school, a new city away from home—and the wrong ethnicity in a divided country. Just a few months earlier, Aida—a bright, energetic 14-year-old girl with olive skin and long black hair bouncing behind her back—had managed a perfect score on Turkey’s national high school entrance exam, and this earned her the right to attend the most prestigious private high school in all of Turkey, a country of nearly 80 million people. Her first day, therefore, should’ve been a celebration. She’d made it; she was where she belonged.
But it didn’t take long for Aida to find out just how much she didn’t belong.
On her first day at a school that is known to be the most progressive in the country, Aida was excited to meet new people. But she found that once she introduced herself to other girls in the dormitory—some, like her, were hundreds or even a thousand miles from home—they were stymied by her name. It just didn’t quite sound like a Turkish name.
“So what are you?” two girls quizzed her eagerly. “Are you a foreigner?”
This question excited Aida, made her feel a bit exotic. How cool would it be to be a foreigner?
“Yes,” she said right away, “I’m Kurdish!”
The girls stared back at her dumbly—stared at her like she was ugly.
~~~~~
One hell of a story, written well by Andrew W. Jones
But it didn’t take long for Aida to find out just how much she didn’t belong.
On her first day at a school that is known to be the most progressive in the country, Aida was excited to meet new people. But she found that once she introduced herself to other girls in the dormitory—some, like her, were hundreds or even a thousand miles from home—they were stymied by her name. It just didn’t quite sound like a Turkish name.
“So what are you?” two girls quizzed her eagerly. “Are you a foreigner?”
This question excited Aida, made her feel a bit exotic. How cool would it be to be a foreigner?
“Yes,” she said right away, “I’m Kurdish!”
The girls stared back at her dumbly—stared at her like she was ugly.
~~~~~
One hell of a story, written well by Andrew W. Jones
Hactar, if you want to write a top-level post about the legality of the Kurdish language and letters, I think it would be welcome.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:00 AM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:00 AM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
What a heartbreaking, horrifying story...
This is what genocide looks like: pairing senseless slaughter with cultural erasure through forced assimilation.
posted by kaibutsu at 5:14 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
This is what genocide looks like: pairing senseless slaughter with cultural erasure through forced assimilation.
posted by kaibutsu at 5:14 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
Seconding what Nancy Lebovitz said, I'd be delighted to read more about it.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:50 AM on June 13, 2023
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:50 AM on June 13, 2023
What happened to this girl? Several years have passed.
posted by greatalleycat at 5:34 AM on June 14, 2023
posted by greatalleycat at 5:34 AM on June 14, 2023
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I had written a bit about the legality of the Kurdish language and letters, but deleted it. It detracted from the central story about these girls and the measures that Erdoğan has taken to hold onto power. I do wonder where these girls are and what they are doing. I hope they are safe and successful.
posted by Hactar at 3:15 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]