By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA

The Bangladesh Embassy in Ankara on Thursday held ceremony to mark International Mother Language Day – a day that has become a source of inspiration.

A cultural program was held with participation of performers from different embassies based in the Turkish capital.

Referring to what happened in 1952 when students demanding the Bangladeshi language be official were killed by then Pakistan's police forces, Bangladesh's Ambassador to Ankara M. Allama Siddiki said the day had roots in sorrow, but has grown into an inspiration.

"This day is also celebration of various cultures, languages, faiths, music,” said Siddik. “So, international mother day language now is a day of celebration an enjoy, more than anything else."

Bangladesh Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed said: "The International Mother Language Day is of amity, unity, friendship, peace and happiness."

"In 1952, the valiant youngsters sacrificed their invaluable lives for upholding the dignity of their mother language Bangla through the rightful movement, which over time turned into language movement, eventually Independence Movement, giving birth to a new country named Banglades in 1971," he added.

Rahmi Er, the deputy president of Turkey's Higher Education Council (YOK), said that the people of Turkey and Bangladesh were like friends, or brothers.

He said the nations were striving for improved educational ties, and YOK was in close cooperation with Bangladeshi counterparts.

Furthermore, Retired Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, a national security advisor for Bangladesh, said Feb. 21 was one of the most important days for his country.

"Bangladesh is the only country in the world whose nationals shed blood for their mother language and liberation," he added.

In addition, artists from Bangladesh, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Afghanistan, China, Thailand and Ukraine staged cultural and linguistic performance at the event.

The event started with a minute of silence honoring those who lost their lives in a fire late Wednesday in Bangladesh.

International Mother Language Day

The day is being celebrated in almost all UN member states under the theme "Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development".

In 1999, UNESCO recognized Feb. 21 as International Mother Language Day to honor Bengali demonstrations in then-East Pakistan [current Bangladesh] against the use of Urdu as the sole national language in 1952.

The Bengali Language Movement started in 1952 and after a long struggle the central government of then-Pakistan accepted Bengali as one of the state languages of the country in 1956.

Around 240 million people across the world speak Bengali as their mother language, making it the 5th largest language in the world, according to Ethnologue, a reference publication on living language.