[WCAR] Turkey: A minority policy of systematic negation

***Learn more about this topic in HREA's study guide on the rights of
ethnic and racial minorities:
http://www.hrea.org/learn/guides/minorities.html


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 -- 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 -- 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.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey but sexual minorities are exposed
to various forms of discrimination and harassment. For example, groups
promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights have faced
difficulties in trying to register officially; they have been under the
threat of closure; gay marches have been banned and police have failed to
protect their participants against angry mobs; and a whole print run of a
gay magazine was recently confiscated.

The IHF briefing paper Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation is
posted at
http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=4318 (under
Recent Reports)

For more information: 
Ulrich Fischer, IHF president, +49-170-807 24 13 
Henriette Schroeder, press officer, +43-1-408 88 22 or mobile
+43-676-725 48 29





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