Sibel Toygun came to London from South Eastern Turkey in January 1991 at the age of nine, after her father experienced persecution at the hands of the Turkish police. She currently works as a financial advisor.
There's a story behind it, the thing is that my parents even when we were in Turkey never talked about their backgrounds because they actually got married in a difficult time because my father was Kurdish and my mum was Turkish. At the time--, soon as they were born… they weren't allowed to get married, both of the parent sides, so they both had to run away. So, in the family for a long period of time wasn't discussed.
Even when we came here I didn't even know that dad actually spoke Kurdish until I remember was 13 he was speaking to his brother and he spoke in a language I didn't understand. I said to him, 'what are you speaking?' he said, 'I'm speaking Kurdish'. I said, 'how come, I didn't know you knew Kurdish?' and he said 'I am--, you have to remember that I am Kurdish' but I said, 'you never talk about it'.
And he goes, 'because we don't' and stuff like that but when we went back to Turkey first time… my mum went before but we went back with my father after my father [inaudible] ten years later in 1998, that's when I saw the Kurdish side of my family because I never even--, in Turkey I never saw my father's side. I never knew my uncles; I never knew my aunts and stuff like that on my father's side. I knew my mum's side but that's where we lived. They kept in contact, my father's side didn't.
For a long time they didn't actually forgive my father but afterwards when they did--, so I got to know and stuff like that. I do bring it up, I do feel the right now, before then when I was kid I never felt I was Kurdish but now I do because I know my father's side well in the past couple of years I know them well. I do see that but for some reason I never bring it up. I think it just--, Turkish comes up much--, I don't know why, maybe it's just we got used to it time wise.
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