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Turkey: Rights Activists Criticize PM on
Kurds
21.12.2006 |
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PM Erdogan said "Kurds
don't have rights related issues in Turkey". Rights
activists criticize him: Many face rights violations
but Kurds have distinct problems; notably on domains
of cultural rights and political representation. EU
Report quotes some...
Istanbul, December 20,-- Rights activists
criticize PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words saying
"Kurds in Turkey don't have any rights problems".
"Turkey have serious problems in the frame of
minority rights and Kurds are the mostly effected by
those problems" said Husnu Ondul, former chair of
Human Rights Association (IHD).
PM Erdogan responded to a question on rights of
Kurds by journalists making reference to the rights
of Turkish Cypriots during his visit to New York,
saying "They have the same rights as any other
ethnic group living on Turkish soil. There are more
than Kurdish citizens in the parliament". |
Photo:BIA |
"Ethnical, regional, religious chauvinism must stop.
We do this in Turkey, if it realizes also in Cyprus,
problems would cease there too".
"PM is confused"
"He acknowledges the Kurdish problem when he goes to
Diyarbakir and he forgets all about it in New York.
He must resolve this contradiction first" said
Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) vice
chair Hasip Kaplan.
He noted that the Kurdish problem went onto
international stage with the Iraq's occupation and
added that "maybe Erdogan doesn't have a problem but
the world does. 20 million Kurds face gigantic
problems in cultural, economical and political
domains. It's political myopia not to see this
fact".
Problems on several domains
Husnu Ondul puts the accent on cultural rights and
political representation. He argues that there is a
fear in Turkish society and establishment towards
recognizing minority rights amounting to paranoia.
Ondul once again emphasized that human rights
problems are universal but Kurds face distinct and
more frequent violations. He summarized the areas of
problem as follows:
*
Language and related
rights: Language is the most important
aspect of being a distinct community. Kurds have
problems protecting and developing their language.
There are no academic studies nor practical
institutions on Kurdish language.
*
State's ignorance:
As equal citizens, Kurds are pushed out of
constitutional protection. Public sources are
devoted only to the Turkish culture, all 26 other
different ethnic groups lack public support that's
under constitutional protection. On the contrary,
people that try to work on those subjects are
punished: Ismail Besikci is an example.
*
Life under constant state of emergency:
Especially in southeastern Turkey, -where the
Kurdish population is concentrated- people lived
most of the 80 years of the Republic under state of
emergency. Military pressure is pervasive and
ever-lasting.
*
Political representation:
Everybody knows that the 10 percent electoral
barrier aims at keeping the Kurds out of the
parliament. DTP's, HADEP's votes go to the bin while
people get elected by 2 thousand votes.
EU Report
Some quotes on the issue included in the the
European Comission's 2006 Progress Report on Turkey
are as follows:
"As regards cultural rights, permission was granted
to two local TV channels in Diyarbakır and to one
radio in Şanlıurfa to broadcast in Kurdish. However,
time restrictions apply, with the exception of films
and music programmes. All broadcasts, except songs,
must be subtitled or translated in Turkish, which
makes live broadcasts technically cumbersome.
Educational programmes teaching the Kurdish language
are not allowed. The Turkish Public Television (TRT)
has continued broadcasting in five languages
including Kurdish. However, the duration and scope
of TRT's national broadcasts in five languages is
very limited. No private broadcaster at national
level has applied for broadcasting in languages
other than Turkish since the enactment of the 2004
legislation.
Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot
learn their mother tongue in the Turkish public
schooling system. Such education can only be made by
private education institutions. As concerns Kurdish
all such courses were closed down in 2004.
Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn
Kurdish today in the public or private schooling
system. Furthermore, there are no measures taken to
facilitate access to public services for those who
do not speak Turkish. As reported above, according
to the Law on Political Parties, the use of
languages other than Turkish is illegal in political
life.
The court case against the Rights and Freedoms Party
(HAK-PAR) regarding a speech in Kurdish continues.
As regards the situation in the East and Southeast,
progress has been made with regard to the
compensation of losses resulting from terrorist
acts. The ECtHR ruled that the compensation law
allowed for the provision of adequate redress for
persons who were denied access to their possessions
in their place of residence.
The situation in the South-East has deteriorated
since the resumption of violence by the PKK, which
is on the EU list of terrorist organisations. During
the period between November 2005 and June 2006,
there were 774 terrorist attacks reported, which led
to 44 military, 5 police and 13 civilian casualties.
In the aftermath of the funerals of some PKK
terrorists at the end of March, riots took place in
Diyarbakir and spread to other cities in the region.
Demonstrators attacked the police, civilian
residents and shops. Ten civilians were killed
during clashes with the police and security forces,
including three children. Many civilians suffered
bullet wounds.
There are widespread reports of excessive and
arbitrary use of force by the security forces, even
against ambulances. Investigations are ongoing to
determine the causes of these deaths. The violence
triggered by the March riots had a negative impact
on the human rights situation. Over 700 people were
detained and cases of ill treatment were reported. A
number of security measures have been reinstated as
a response to the escalation of terrorism, such as
roadblocks and checkpoints in some provinces of the
Southeast. On the legislative side, amendments to
the anti-terror law were adopted in June 2006
The November 2005 Şemdinli bombing, which killed one
person and injured others, also had a negative
impact on the situation in the region. A court in
Van imposed heavy prison sanctions on two
gendarmerie officers and a former PKK member
reported to work as a gendarmerie informer who were
found responsible for the bombing. A Parliamentary
Committee was established in November 2005 to
investigate the Şemdinli events. The Committee has
not published its report.
The overall socio-economic situation in the
Southeast remains difficult and there is no
comprehensive plan to address this issue. The
positive statement of Prime Minister Erdogan in 2005
stressing the need to resolve through democratic
means what he called "the Kurdish issue" was not
followed up. There is almost no dialogue between the
authorities and locally elected politicians.
Furthermore, many locally elected politicians face
court cases. Moreover, the 10% threshold under the
electoral law makes it difficult for all but the
nationwide largest parties to be represented in
Parliament.
In spite of the ECtHR ruling in the Icyer vs.Turkey
case of January 2006, the implementation of the Law
on Compensation of Losses Resulting from Terrorist
Acts raises several concerns. Overall, there seems
to be divergences in the methods used by the
compensation commissions. They have large
discretionary powers and procedures are often
cumbersome.
As a result, the payment of the amounts due is slow.
There are concerns about the level of compensation.
Furthermore, the conditions attached to the
eligibility for compensation could leave a large
number of potential beneficiaries outside the scope
of the Law. There is also a heavy burden of proof on
applicants to provide documentation, including
property titles, which in many cases have never
existed."
bianet org
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan"
Southeast Turkey. The Kurds have no rights in
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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