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International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights on Turkey

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  • International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights on Turkey

    International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights



    Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation


    Vienna, 10 October 2006-- The International Helsinki Federation for Human
    Rights (IHF) today published a 26-page briefing paper entitled Turkey: A
    Minority Policy of Systematic Negation. The briefing paper discusses the
    legal basis for Turkey's restrictive minority polices, its interpretation by
    authorities, and an abundant misuse of laws against minority members and
    individuals who seek to promote minority rights and protection. It also
    takes up case examples of how the rights of various ethnic, religious and
    linguistic minority groups including the Kurds, the Armenians, the Greek,
    the Alevis, the Laz, the Circassians, and the Roma are violated. In
    addition, the paper addresses the situation of sexual minorities in Turkey.

    `When discussing Turkey's possible membership in the European Union, the
    manner in which Turkey treats its minorities should constitute a central
    criterion in judging the country's observance of human rights. Today,
    Turkey's minority protection still falls seriously short of European
    standards. A policy that is characterized by the failure to recognize the
    mere existence of most minorities, continued legal prosecution of people who
    speak about minorities or historical facts about them, and the reluctance to
    solve basic problems faced by minorities, is unacceptable from a human
    rights point of view,' said Ulrich Fischer, president of the IHF.

    Turkey continues to practice a policy of `Turkification,' which it adopted
    in the early 20th century. This policy amounts to a form of cultural
    assimilation that fails to recognize individuals' rights to ethnic,
    national, and religious self-identification, and aims at forced assimilation
    with a Turkish identity. It encompasses several strategies whose rationale
    violates, in one way or another, internationally guaranteed standards for
    minority rights. These strategies still include: denying formal recognition
    of minority groups; hindering their access to the media; limiting their
    political participation; violating their freedom of expression (especially
    in their own language); impeding their freedom of religion; refraining from
    facilitating their freedom of movement and to choose their place of
    residence; and practicing or tolerating various other forms of direct and
    indirect discrimination.

    Turkey bases its minority policies on the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 and
    claims to be bound only by this treaty c which itself is entirely obsolete
    in light of current international standards for minority rights and
    protection. Moreover, while the treaty provides for protection for all
    non-Muslim minorities, all Turkish governments in the past more than 80
    years have interpreted the treaty to guarantee protection only to three
    minority groups: the Armenian Orthodox Christians, the Greek Orthodox
    Christians, and the Jews. What is more, these groups are recognized only as
    religious minorities r not as ethnic.

    While Turkey has no laws in place specifically addressing minority issues,
    an abundance of laws are misused against individuals who have sought to
    promote minority rights, or even to address the existence of minorities.
    These include inter alia the penal code, anti-terrorism legislation and laws
    regulating the operation political parties and other associations.

    For example, addressing the issue of discrimination against minorities, or
    considering that Armenians in Turkey were victims of genocide, has been
    prosecuted under the penal code for `inciting enmity or hatred among the
    population' or `denigration of Turkishness.' Further, in 2005, Turkey's
    largest teachers' union, Egitim Sen, was closed down for defending the right
    to education in children's mother tongues. In addition, the formal closure
    of the pro-Kurdish DEHAP and HAK-PAR parties are pending with the
    Constitutional Court for `creating minorities' and using prohibited
    languages in election activities.

    Police continue to interfere in demonstrations and open-air meetings
    organized by Kurdish activists many of whom have stood trial for
    participating in them. Recent reforms that have lifted some language
    restrictions in broadcasting and education of minority languages have been
    clearly insufficient. By law, it is prohibited to use any other language but
    Turkish in political activities.

    Legislation regulating the operation of religious minorities treats Muslim
    and non-Muslim religious communities in different ways and therefore amounts
    to a serious challenge to freedom of religion and religious tolerance. In
    practice, non-Muslim minorities enjoy restricted property rights, face
    interference in the management of their `foundations, ' and a ban on
    training their own clergy. But also Muslim minorities, such as the Alevis,
    for example, experience difficulties in having their places of worship
    recognized because authorities regard them as a cultural group, not
    religious. In addition, reports persist that all religious minority leaders
    remain under government surveillance.

    While, under the Lausanne Treaty, non-Muslim religious minorities have the
    right to give language education in their own language, in practice the
    proper functioning of minority schools is hindered in several ways.

    An old settlement act from 1934 explicitly discriminates against Roma
    (`itinerant gypsies') by forbidding their settlement in Turkey. In addition,
    Roma are frequently treated as second-class citizens and therefore
    discriminated against in employment, housing, and in access to medical care.


    In the 1980s and 1990s, more than 378,000 Kurds were displaced and more than
    3,000 villages completely destroyed under the pretext of combating the PKK
    insurgency. Despite some legal steps and projects to ensure the return of
    IDPs, the measures taken so far are clearly insufficient and partially
    discriminatory.
    General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”
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