Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed reports on Tuesday, June 12, that Kurdish will be taught in public schools, describing it as "a historic step" for Turkey.

"Our students ... will now be able to learn Kurdish as optional courses if there is a sufficient number [of students]," Erdoğan told his ruling party members in the parliament.

"This is a historic step," he added, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Meanwhile, arrests of suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party continue throughout the country.

16 people were taken into custody on Monday in the eastern province of Hakkari as part of a deepening investigation into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). On Tuesday, Aysel Tuğluk, an independent pro-Kurdish MP from Diyarbakır, was sentenced to 14 years and 6 months in prison on charges of being a member of PKK.