DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Three schools in Turkey are controversially opening their doors to Kurdish education for the first time, as millions of students across the country return to school today.

Education at the three schools in Diyarbakir, Gever and Cizre will be entirely in Kurdish, the mother tongue of the people in the region.

Turkish authorities have already expressed their opposition to this initiative by the Democratic Regions Party and the Kurdish Language Research and Education Syndicate in Diyarbakir.

Education authorities in the region have threatened to prosecute the schools, considering the move illegal.

But Refat Roni, from the language syndicate, said that the schools are going ahead with the plan, despite the opposition.

"We will not compromise on our right to education and the government should support this move," he said.

Leaders of the Democratic Regions Party and activists have also called on parents in the region to boycott the first week of school and demand education in Kurdish for their children.

Turkey is home to more than 15 million Kurds, but they do not have the right to study in their language.

Fighting for education in the mother tongue is high on the agenda of Kurdish political parties and their parliamentarians in Ankara.

Rudaw