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Turkey: A letter from Kurds to the EU
2.7.2006
By Faik Bulut
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Accession negotiations
between Turkey and the European Union are underway.
The talks are concentrating on the Cyprus issue, but
they might also come to a halt as a result of that.
Since the process began the Turkish government has
started to see things from a different perspective
and has discovered that it isn't so easy to avoid
its obligations. In the future there will be many
chapters which will be extremely problematic for
Ankara: From the Kurdish and religious minority
problems, asylum and migration to the role of the
army and religion in daily life and even
agricultural policies.
As Turkey is now discussing that topic, the
negotiations process may be interrupted. The EU
warned the Turkish government a fortnight ago that
there's a possibility that may happen. It seems that
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn't
disappointed about this but he's rather surprised
about why the EU is behaving like that and wondering
what else they want.
In fact it's a painful process and decision time for
Ankara. Considering the negotiations to be decisive
for them too, some Kurdish circles sent a joint
letter to the EU's representative in Ankara. Signed
by the Kurdish Culture and Research Foundation
(KURT-KAV) in Istanbul, Party For Rights and Freedom
(HAK-PAR), Society of Art and Culture (Cira) in
Diyarbakir, Foundation For Cultural and Social
Services in Turkey in Ankara, Kurdish National
Democratic Working Group based in Diyarbakir, Life
Women's Cooperative (YAKAKOP) in Van, two cultural
magazines, "Bir" and "Dema Nu," in Diyarbakir, and
Peri publications in Istanbul, the letter contains
four main points.
The first point in the letter is a complaint about
policies of denial, refusal and assimilation towards
the Kurds, which have been in force since the
foundation of the Turkish Republic.
In the second part, those who signed the letter warn
the EU about Turkey's unwillingness to grant the
Kurds more cultural rights, saying, "As a result of
efforts by the EU, Turkey has stepped up recognition
of cultural and democratic rights. However, those
steps aren't enough. It must also be recognized that
although they haven't satisfied the Kurds and
contributed enough to efforts for peace and
democracy, those steps have been important. However,
these positive steps are seriously and effectively
resisted by those who are influential in the
administration of the state as they don't want to
accept the rights of ethnic groups and minorities
other than the Turks."
In the third section, the concerned Kurdish
establishments express their anxiety, saying, "We're
anxious about what's going on. Not just the Kurds
but also all wise people in Turkey are anxious. To
explain what's making us anxious, it's useful to sum
up what's happened in Turkey in the last few months:
"The blasts in Semdinli, a district in the
southeastern province Hakkari; the killing of
civilians, including children, and the arrest of
hundreds, including children, in riots in Diyarbakir;
the attack against members of the Council of State;
Kurds have been threatened with death and migrated
to towns and cities; elected local administrators
have been sentenced and fined, such as 37 mayors
from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party [DTP]
and politicians because of their comments/statements
concerning the Kurdish issue; the arrest of Kurdish
intellectuals and politicians who've democratically
resisted the deployment of the army along the
borders; terrorist attacks whose real perpetrators
are unknown; the release of retired members of the
military or officers who are still in the army and
supposedly members of the Special Forces who have
been accused of being connected to criminal gangs
and involvement in the Council of State attack.
"It seems that those who want to resolve the problem
through violence and oppression, as was the case in
the past, are making great plans. This may result in
death and great destruction and also may turn the
country into hell: Until recently ethnic minorities
haven't massacred each other. But we're highly
concerned that these racist and chauvinist policies
may to lead an unavoidable conflict between the
Kurds and Turks."
The last section of the
letter concentrates on the Kurds' demands. They are:
1) All legal and illegal barriers to Kurdish
culture, art, music and literature should be
abolished.
2) Kurdish language, first of all in the
field of education, should be approved for use in
all areas of life, from primary school to
university. Kurdish language should be supported as
a language of education, and the state should
allocate money from the budget for that.
3) First of all, the primary school
curriculum, as well that of the rest of the
educational sector, should be revised and
assimilationist and racist elements which are based
on policies of refusal and denial should be
excluded.
4) All laws and regulations which impede the
use of Kurdish and other national and local
languages on TV and radio should be abolished.
5) The names of more than 10,000 residential
areas, such as cities, and towns and geographic
zones/areas (mountains, lakes, plains etc.) should
go back to the original (be it Kurdish, Armenian or
Assyrian).
6) The necessary legal reforms need to be
made to the right to assemble for not only for Kurds
but also for everybody; all legal prohibitions on
the right to gather should be abolished, and that
right should be guaranteed under the Constitution.
7) Taking into account the multi-ethnicity of
Turkey, the Political Parties Law and all other
anti-democratic and oppressive laws should be
revised and amended.
8) The Alevis and other religious minorities
should have the right to express their culture and
beliefs, and legal impediments to this should be
abolished.
9) All barriers to freedom of thought should
be abolished, and freedom of thought shouldn't be a
crime.
10) Efforts need to be made to reestablish
social peace.
11) The Constitution and the law should be
amended to facilitate the development of a
pluralistic, democratic and egalitarian society.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/opinion-9644.html
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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