Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey
Encyclopedia
Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey looks at the human rights
of Kurds in Turkey
.
is Turkish
.
The Kurdish population of Turkey has long sought to have Kurdish
included as a language of instruction in public schools as well as a subject. Several attempts at opening Kurdish instruction centers were stopped on technical grounds, such as wrong dimensions of doors. An experiment at running Kurdish-language schools was wound up in 2004 because of an apparent lack of interest.
Kurdish is permitted as a subject in universities, but in reality there are only few pioneer courses.
US Congressman Bob Filner
spoke of a "cultural genocide
", stressing that "a way of life known as Kurdish is disappearing at an alarming rate". Mark Levene suggests that the genocidal practices were not limited to cultural genocide, and that the events of the late 19th century continued until 1990.
Certain academics have claimed that successive Turkish governments adopted a sustained genocide
program against Kurds, aimed at their assimilation
. The genocide hypothesis remains, however, a minority view among historians, and is not endorsed by any nation or major organisation. Desmond Fernandes, a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University
, breaks the policy of the Turkish authorities into the following categories:
, unless that language was the first official language of a country that Turkey has diplomatic relations with. Though this ban technically applied to any language, it had the largest effect on the Kurdish language
, which is not the first official language of any country, despite being widely spoken in the Kurdistan region.
In June 2004, Turkey's public television TRT began broadcasting a half-hour Kurdish program, and on March 8, 2006, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK
) allowed two TV channels (Gün TV and Söz TV) and one radio channel (Medya FM) to have limited service in the Kurdish language. This legislation came into force as an effort to meet one of the European Union
’s requirements for membership in its talks with Turkey. The new regulation will allot five hours of weekly radio broadcast and four of television.
Despite these reforms, use of Kurdish in the public sphere and government institutions is still severely restricted. On June 14, 2007, the Interior Ministry took a decision to remove Abdullah Demirbaş
from his office as elected mayor of the Sur district of Diyarbakir
. They also removed elected members of the municipal council. The high court endorsed the decision of the ministry and ruled that "giving information on various municipal services such as culture, art, environment, city cleaning and health in languages other than Turkish is against the Constitution.
This is despite the fact that according to the above-mentioned municipality, 72% of the people of the district use Kurdish
in their daily lives. In another case, the mayor of Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir
, is being subjected to a similar set of interrogations and judicial processes. His case is related to the use of the Kurdish phrase Sersala We Pîroz Be (Happy New Year) in the new year celebration cards issued by the municipality. The prosecutor wrote: "It was determined that the suspect used a Kurdish sentence in the celebration card, ‘Sersala We Piroz Be’ (Happy New Year). I, on behalf of the public, demand that he be punished under Article 222/1 of the Turkish Penal Code".
under excuse of supporting the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by NATO members like Turkey, USA, the European Union
at the beginning of this century and the flowering of Turkish nationalism, the destruction or assimilation of minority populations (particularly Armenians
and Kurds) has been a recurring pattern. In the last hundred years, four Eastern Anatolian groups—Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, and Greeks—have fallen victim to state-sponsored attempts by the Ottoman authorities or their Turkish or Iraqi successors to eradicate them. Because of space limitations, I have concentrated here on the genocidal sequence affecting Armenians and Kurds only, though my approach would also be pertinent to the Pontic Greek and Assyrian cases.
}}
(TAF) included burning of 'deserted' villages in order for the PKK not to use them as outposts or hiding places.
Clashes between Turkish and PKK militants have resulted in some 30,000 casualties according a report by the US Department of State.
—who, three years prior, had been the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament—was sentenced to 15 years for "separatist speech". At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish
, as required by law, then added in Kurdish
, "I have completed this formality under duress. I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework." Parliament erupted with shouts of "Separatist", "Terrorist", and "Arrest her".
In April 2008, she was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly "spreading terrorist propaganda" by saying in a speech, "Kurds have three leaders, namely Massoud Barzani
, Celal Talabani and Abdullah Ocalan
."
Bar Association submitted more than 70 complaints of ill-treatment to the authorities. Investigations were launched into 39 of these claims. During the events in Diyarbakır, forensic examinations of detained were carried out in places of detention. According to the Report of the Commission, "this contravenes the rules and the circulars issued by the Ministries of Justice and Health as well as the independence of the medical profession". The Commission also believes that "the new provisions introduced in June 2006 to amend the anti-terror law could undermine the fight against torture and ill-treatment". The Commission also stresses that "a return to normality in Southeast can only be achieved be opening dialogue with local counterparts". "A comprehensive strategy should be pursued to achieve the socio-economic development of the region and the establishment of conditions for the Kurdish population to enjoy full rights and freedoms. Issues that need to be addressed include the return of internally displaced persons, compensation for losses incurred by victims of terrorism, landmines as well as the issue of village guards".
, launched a channel (TRT 6) in the Kurdish language. Famous Kurdish musicians attended the inauguration, at which the prime minister made a speech in Kurdish.
The Turkey 2006 Progress Report underscores that, according to the Law on Political Parties, the use of languages other than Turkish is illegal in political life. This was seen when Leyla Zana
spoke Kurdish in her inauguration as an MP she was arrested in 1994 and charged with treason and membership in the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Zana and the others were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prior to this in 1992, the Kurd Institute in Istanbul was raided by police who arrest five people and confiscated books on Kurdish language, literature, and history
The European Commission
concludes as of 2006 that "overall Turkey made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with international standards". The Economist
also asserts that "reforms have slowed, prosecutions of writers for insulting Turkishness have continued, renewed fighting has broken out with Kurds and a new mood of nationalism has taken hold", but it is also stressed that "in the past four years the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
, improved rights for Kurds".
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
of Kurds in Turkey
Kurds in Turkey
Ethnic Kurds compose a significant portion of the population in Turkey . Unlike the Turks, the Kurds speak an Indo-European language...
.
Education
In Turkey, the only language of instruction in the education systemEducation in Turkey
Education in Turkey is governed by a national system which was established in accordance with the Atatürk Reforms after the Turkish War of Independence...
is Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
.
The Kurdish population of Turkey has long sought to have Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
included as a language of instruction in public schools as well as a subject. Several attempts at opening Kurdish instruction centers were stopped on technical grounds, such as wrong dimensions of doors. An experiment at running Kurdish-language schools was wound up in 2004 because of an apparent lack of interest.
Kurdish is permitted as a subject in universities, but in reality there are only few pioneer courses.
Multiculturalism, Assimilation
Due to the large number of Turkish Kurds, successive governments have viewed the expression of a Kurdish identity as a potential threat to Turkish unity, a feeling that has been compounded since the armed rebellion initiated by the PKK in 1984. One of the main accusations of cultural assimilation relates to the state's historic suppression of the Kurdish language. Kurdish publications created throughout the 1960s and 1970s were shut down under various legal pretexts. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in government institutions.US Congressman Bob Filner
Bob Filner
Robert Earl Filner is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 50th, serving since 1993, and Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
spoke of a "cultural genocide
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide is a term that lawyer Raphael Lemkin proposed in 1933 as a component to genocide. The term was considered in the 1948 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples juxtaposed next to the term ethnocide, but it was removed in the final document, replaced with...
", stressing that "a way of life known as Kurdish is disappearing at an alarming rate". Mark Levene suggests that the genocidal practices were not limited to cultural genocide, and that the events of the late 19th century continued until 1990.
Certain academics have claimed that successive Turkish governments adopted a sustained genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
program against Kurds, aimed at their assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
. The genocide hypothesis remains, however, a minority view among historians, and is not endorsed by any nation or major organisation. Desmond Fernandes, a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
, breaks the policy of the Turkish authorities into the following categories:
- Forced assimilation program, which involved, among other things, a ban of the Kurdish languageKurdish languageKurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, and the forced relocation of Kurds to non-Kurdish areas of Turkey. - The banning of any organizations opposed to category one.
- The violent repression of any Kurdish resistance.
Cultural expression
Between 1983 and 1991, it was forbidden to publicize, publish and/or broadcast in any language other than TurkishTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, unless that language was the first official language of a country that Turkey has diplomatic relations with. Though this ban technically applied to any language, it had the largest effect on the Kurdish language
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, which is not the first official language of any country, despite being widely spoken in the Kurdistan region.
In June 2004, Turkey's public television TRT began broadcasting a half-hour Kurdish program, and on March 8, 2006, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK
RTÜK
RTÜK is the Turkish state agency for monitoring, regulating, and sanctioning radio and television broadcasts. RTÜK was founded in 1994 and is composed of nine members elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey...
) allowed two TV channels (Gün TV and Söz TV) and one radio channel (Medya FM) to have limited service in the Kurdish language. This legislation came into force as an effort to meet one of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
’s requirements for membership in its talks with Turkey. The new regulation will allot five hours of weekly radio broadcast and four of television.
Despite these reforms, use of Kurdish in the public sphere and government institutions is still severely restricted. On June 14, 2007, the Interior Ministry took a decision to remove Abdullah Demirbaş
Abdullah Demirbaş
Abdullah Demirbaş is mayor of the municipality of Sur in the city of Diyarbakir, Southeast Turkey, of the Peace and Democracy Party ....
from his office as elected mayor of the Sur district of Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
. They also removed elected members of the municipal council. The high court endorsed the decision of the ministry and ruled that "giving information on various municipal services such as culture, art, environment, city cleaning and health in languages other than Turkish is against the Constitution.
This is despite the fact that according to the above-mentioned municipality, 72% of the people of the district use Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
in their daily lives. In another case, the mayor of Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir
Osman Baydemir
Osman Baydemir is a Kurdish politician, lawyer and human rights activist in east Turkey. He is the current mayor of his home town of Diyarbakır and member of the Peace and Democracy Party .-Life and career:...
, is being subjected to a similar set of interrogations and judicial processes. His case is related to the use of the Kurdish phrase Sersala We Pîroz Be (Happy New Year) in the new year celebration cards issued by the municipality. The prosecutor wrote: "It was determined that the suspect used a Kurdish sentence in the celebration card, ‘Sersala We Piroz Be’ (Happy New Year). I, on behalf of the public, demand that he be punished under Article 222/1 of the Turkish Penal Code".
Political representation
The Turkish Constitution bans the formation of political parties on an ethnic basis. Several Kurdish political parties have been shut down by the Turkish Constitutional CourtTurkish Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court of Turkey is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the force of law, and the Rules of Procedure of the Turkish Grand National Assembly"...
under excuse of supporting the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by NATO members like Turkey, USA, the European Union
Ottoman era
Following the Young Turk RevolutionYoung Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional Era...
at the beginning of this century and the flowering of Turkish nationalism, the destruction or assimilation of minority populations (particularly Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
and Kurds) has been a recurring pattern. In the last hundred years, four Eastern Anatolian groups—Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, and Greeks—have fallen victim to state-sponsored attempts by the Ottoman authorities or their Turkish or Iraqi successors to eradicate them. Because of space limitations, I have concentrated here on the genocidal sequence affecting Armenians and Kurds only, though my approach would also be pertinent to the Pontic Greek and Assyrian cases.
}}
PKK era
During the 1980s and 1990s, Turkey displaced a large number of its citizens in southeastern Anatolia from rural areas, allegedly to protect them from guerrilla violence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) , that is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union. Turkey has claimed that the actions of the Turkish Armed ForcesTurkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy , and the Air Force...
(TAF) included burning of 'deserted' villages in order for the PKK not to use them as outposts or hiding places.
Clashes between Turkish and PKK militants have resulted in some 30,000 casualties according a report by the US Department of State.
Leyla Zana
In 1994 Leyla ZanaLeyla Zana
Leyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...
—who, three years prior, had been the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament—was sentenced to 15 years for "separatist speech". At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, as required by law, then added in Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, "I have completed this formality under duress. I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework." Parliament erupted with shouts of "Separatist", "Terrorist", and "Arrest her".
In April 2008, she was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly "spreading terrorist propaganda" by saying in a speech, "Kurds have three leaders, namely Massoud Barzani
Massoud Barzani
Massoud Barzani is the current President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Barzani was born in Mahabad, Iran, during the rule of the Republic of Mahabad...
, Celal Talabani and Abdullah Ocalan
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan , Kurdish founder of the terrorist organization called Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978.Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs...
."
Akin Birdal
In 2000, the chairman of the Turkish Human Rights Association Akin Birdal was imprisoned under Article 312 for a speech in which he called for "peace and understanding" between Kurds and Turks. He was forced to resign from his post, as the Law on Associations forbids persons who breach this and several other laws from serving as association officials.Diyarbakır detentions (2006)
Violent disturbances took place in several cities in the southeast in March and April 2006. Over 550 people were detained as a result of these events, including over 200 children. The DiyarbakırDiyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
Bar Association submitted more than 70 complaints of ill-treatment to the authorities. Investigations were launched into 39 of these claims. During the events in Diyarbakır, forensic examinations of detained were carried out in places of detention. According to the Report of the Commission, "this contravenes the rules and the circulars issued by the Ministries of Justice and Health as well as the independence of the medical profession". The Commission also believes that "the new provisions introduced in June 2006 to amend the anti-terror law could undermine the fight against torture and ill-treatment". The Commission also stresses that "a return to normality in Southeast can only be achieved be opening dialogue with local counterparts". "A comprehensive strategy should be pursued to achieve the socio-economic development of the region and the establishment of conditions for the Kurdish population to enjoy full rights and freedoms. Issues that need to be addressed include the return of internally displaced persons, compensation for losses incurred by victims of terrorism, landmines as well as the issue of village guards".
Status quo
In 2009, the state-run broadcaster, TRTTurkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...
, launched a channel (TRT 6) in the Kurdish language. Famous Kurdish musicians attended the inauguration, at which the prime minister made a speech in Kurdish.
The Turkey 2006 Progress Report underscores that, according to the Law on Political Parties, the use of languages other than Turkish is illegal in political life. This was seen when Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...
spoke Kurdish in her inauguration as an MP she was arrested in 1994 and charged with treason and membership in the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Zana and the others were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prior to this in 1992, the Kurd Institute in Istanbul was raided by police who arrest five people and confiscated books on Kurdish language, literature, and history
The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
concludes as of 2006 that "overall Turkey made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with international standards". The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
also asserts that "reforms have slowed, prosecutions of writers for insulting Turkishness have continued, renewed fighting has broken out with Kurds and a new mood of nationalism has taken hold", but it is also stressed that "in the past four years the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
, improved rights for Kurds".
External links
- Kurdish Human Rights Project
- The Alliance for Kurdish Rights
- Human Rights Abuses Against the Kurdish Minority a report by Amnesty International
- Kurdish 'Grave Sites' to be Dug by Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, February 27, 2009
- US Journalist Deported from Turkey After Reporting on Plight of Kurds - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...