Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey

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Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey is the analysis of the human rights of Kurds in Turkey.

Contents 1 Background 2 Individual rights 3 Group rights 3.1 Claims of forced assimilation and genocide 3.2 Education 3.3 Progress of Reforms 4 Contemporary issues 4.1 Recent events in Diyarbakır 5 Notes 6 References 6.1 Printed sources 6.2 Online sources

[edit] Background

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Forced migration of Kurds in Turkey has a long history. Following the Young Turk revolution 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. The stage for later treatment of the Kurds may well have been set in 1915 when combined Turkish and Kurdish forces wiped out the Armenian presence in eastern Anatolia.^[1]

Mark Levene in his Creating a Modern "Zone of Genocide": The Impact of Nation- and State-Formation on Eastern Anatolia, 1878-1923, suggests that: The persistence of genocide or near-genocidal incidents from the 1890s through the 1990s, committed by Ottoman and successor Turkish and Iraqi states against Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek communities in Eastern Anatolia, is striking. ... the creation of this "zone of genocide" in Eastern Anatolia cannot be understood in isolation, but only in light of the role played by the Great Powers in the emergence of a Western-led international system.^[2]

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.^[2]

Levene, while naming the treatment of the Kurds as continuation of the genocidal sequence of events, he clarifies his broad usage of the term `genocide`, arguing that: " The genocide perpetrated against the Turkish Kurds of the Dersim area was essentially partial and local... Compared to what happened to the Armenians in 1915...these events were smaller scale, ultimately somewhat less systematic, and less total not only for the victim groups involved but also for their implications for the dominant state."^[3]

[edit] Individual rights

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In remote parts of the country, such as Southeastern Anatolia, patriarchal traditions of namus (family honor) prevail amongs the local Kurdish population, and women still face domestic violence, forced marriages, and so-called honor killings.^{[citation needed]} Nearly all of these so-called honor killings take place among the Kurdish population and persons found guilty of committing an honor killing are sentenced to life in prison per the Turkish Penal Code.^[4] State authorities engaged in stamping out such practices are often accused of racism and of trying to suppress Kurdish culture. To combat this, the government and various other foundations are engaged in education campaigns in Southeastern Anatolia to improve the rate of literacy and education levels of women.^[5]

[edit] Group rights

[edit] Claims of forced assimilation and genocide

According to Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, a Finnish linguist, for many years the Turkish government had denied the existence of a Kurdish identity. Skutnabb-Kangas argues that for decades "Kurds have experienced both linguistic and cultural persecution".^[6] In her book, she also talks about an interview of Aliser Cengaver (a Kurdish woman) by Shelley K. Taylor. Aliser Cengaver stressed that her own educational experience "attested to Turkey's denial of the Kurdish identity and persecution of the Kurds". Cengaver also argue that there was a strong assimilation policy in schools in southeastern Turkey and that "the goal of residential schooling is to make Kurdish children's mother tongue and home culture foreign to them".^[6]

Due to the large size 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 comes from the state's historic suppression of the Kurdish language. Kurdish publications created throughout the 1960's and 1970's were shut down under various legal pretexts ^[7]. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited from government institutions. Since 2002, as part of its reforms aimed at European Union integration and under pressure to further the rights of Kurds, Turkey passed laws allowing Kurdish radio and television broadcasts as well the option of private Kurdish education.^[8].

Desmond Fernandes, who was a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University, claims that successive Turkish governments adopted a sustained a cultural genocide program against Kurds, aimed at their assimilation. He breaks down the policy of the Turkish authorities into the following categories:

1. Forced assimilation program, which involved inter alia a ban of the Kurdish language, and the forced relocation of Kurds to non-Kurdish areas of Turkey. American Congressman Bob Filner speaks about a "cultural genocide", and stresses that "a way of life known as Kurdish is disappearing at an alarming rate".
2. The banning of any organizations opposed to category one.
3. The violent repression of any Kurdish resistance. According to Fernandes, hundreds of thousands of Kurds have been killed by Turkish state authorities over the past eighty years—the religious Sheikh Said Rebellion (Mosul province was assigned to British Mandate of Mesopotamia as a result of this) and the Ararat uprisings in the 1920s, the suppression of the Dersim in the 1930s, as well as the PKK campaign in recent years.^[9][10]

Mark Levene suggests that the genocidal practices were not limited to cultural genocide and that the events of the late nineteenth century continued until 1990.^[2]

[edit] Education

Many Kurdish families refuse to send their daughters to school because of centuries old tribal traditions. In fact, it has been stated that even economically wealthy families do not want their daughters to follow the mandatory primary and secondary education, instead preferring them to get married when they are comparatively very young. It has also been stated that for many of the local Arab and Kurdish population of the southeast, a school is simply not a place that girls go to. The Turkish state is actively trying to put an end to these feudal practices by a variety of educational and political campaigns, along with nation-wide television campaigns and the personal involvement of the prime minister. It has been estimated that thanks to these determined campaigns, hundreds of thousands of girls in the region are now going to school for the very first time.^[5]

[edit] Progress of Reforms

The recent Turkey 2006 Progress Report issued by the European Commission contains certain comments concerning the cultural and educational rights of Kurdish people in Turkey. The report states that: "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 programs teaching the Kurdish language are not allowed. The Turkish Public Television (TRT) has continued broadcasting 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."^[11]

The only language of instruction in the education system is Turkish and people who desire to learn other languages can do so through private courses. As concerns the Kurdish language, all such courses were closed down in 2004 by the owners.^[11] It must be noted, however, that those courses were shut down because of a grave lack of attendance and interest, and thus making the observers wonder the true extent of the demand for a separate Kurdish ethnic identity, rather than a Turkish one. Many buildings were rented for such courses by activists "in anticipation of a flood of students that never came." Kurdish language activists counter that the desire to learn Kurdish is there, but it must be taught in public schools.^[12]

Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn Kurdish nowadays 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. The Report underscores that, according to the Law on Political Parties, the use of languages other than Turkish is illegal in political life. This was practically 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.

The Commission concludes that "overall Turkey made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with international standards".^[11] 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".^[13]

[edit] Contemporary issues

[edit] Recent events in Diyarbakır

Violent disturbances took place in several cities in the Southeast in March and April of 2006. Over 550 people were detained as a result of these events, including over 200 children. The Diyarbakır Bar Association submitted more than 70 complaints of ill-treatment to the authorities. Subsequently, 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".^[11] The Commission also stresses that "a return to normality in Southeast can only be achieved be opening dialogue with local counterparts".^[11] "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".^[11]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References