Council of Europe urges Armenia to ensure wide use of minority languages

This report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts which monitors the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

On the basis of the report, the Committee of Ministers calls on Armenia to develop a structured policy to make available sufficient teacher training and up-dated teaching materials in Assyrian, Yezidi and Kurdish at all education levels.

Furthermore, the Armenian authorities should ensure that regional or minority languages can be used in court and that courts and the public are aware of their rights and duties to use these languages.

Armenia should also take measures to improve the presence of Assyrian and Greek on radio, and of Assyrian, Yezidi and Kurdish languages on television.

Finally, the Committee of Ministers recommends to clarify whether there are any regional or minority languages used in Armenia other than those mentioned in Armenia’s instrument of ratification.