Several families and especially young mothers of the Armenian community of Istanbul are sounding the alarm about the need for pre-schools that will provide their children with an Armenian education.

Referring to Agos Weekly, Tert.am writes that in spite of the high number of Armenian schools in Istanbul, including elementary, middle and high schools, Armenian mothers are asking and demanding the creation of Armenian pre-schools that will contribute to the formation of Armenian children when they are just beginning to speak.

Film director and young mother Lusin Dink (daughter of Hrant Dink’s brother Khosrov Dink) shared her concerns and proposals in Agos Weekly.

“My daughter is one-and-a-half years old. I wanted to take her to an Armenian pre-school for at least a couple of hours a week this year. Armenian pre-schools enroll children starting from the age of 3. This pushes many Armenian families to take their children to Turkish public kindergartens. When I called one of the pre-schools, they told me the following: “If only your child knew how to speak completely.” I think it is important to have my child be in an Armenian environment when she is just beginning to learn how to speak. I speak Armenian, but, for instance, whenever we go to a park and my child hears words uttered by the people around her, she is in a more Turkish environment than an Armenian one. There can be groups for newborns and children up to the age of 3, right? The Dadyan Armenian School is empty. If it is operated for that purpose, I will take my child there, that is, Bakirkyoy (Armenian-populated district in the European sector of Istanbul), even though I live in Kadikyoy (Kadikyoy is an old Armenian-Greek district located on the other coast of Bosphorus and is considered one of the two large areas of the Asian sector of Istanbul).

Why should we send our children to receive an education outside of our community and in exactly the period when their traits are being formed? This is a matter of laying the foundations. Language is not only about learning Armenian. Language is also our culture. I think our community is capable of organizing all this. A community that is capable of building tall buildings for plazas can also build a kindergarten,” Lusin Dink stated.