Turkey - on the way to settle the Kurdish issue?

The Kurdish ethnic minority counts between 30 and 40 million of people. It is believed that they descend from Indo-European tribes and that they migrated to the Zagros Mountains 4000 years ago. The Kurds have populated Turkey, Iran, Syria and also Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Kurds are Turkey's largest ethnic group as they consist 18% of the whole population. It is perceived that they are the only minority that could be a threat Turkish national unity, therefore government took a strategy of assimilation of the Kurds by suppression of their ethnic identity - for example the Kurdish language was banned in the past. There has been an active Kurdish separatist movement since 1984 known as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Their goal is to establish and independent state in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria as well as for cultural and political rights of Kurdish minority in Turkey. It is also on the list of terrorist organizations. However after decades of violent clashes between PKK and Turkey, last week the PKK has begun withdrawing forces from northern Turkey near the Black sea.

Since we were curious whether the decades-long crisis is on its way to solution, we asked the representative of Turkey, Ms. Sara Jud, a few questions regarding the issue of Kurdish minority in Turkey.

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire the aim of Turkish constitutional regime was to create a unified nation based on 'Turkishness' and rejection of other cultural identities. Therefore the fundamental problem regarding the issue of Kurdish minority, from the legal perspective, is the Turkish constitutional regime and Turkey's past and present Constitution. This is reflected in many references of the Constitution to the Turkish identity, including Article 3 that identifies Turkish as the language of the State and that cannot be amended. Moreover Turkey has not signed either the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities nor the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. On the other hand Turkey has ratified the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but with reservations on provisions regarding rights of minorities. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) promised as it was elected in 2011, to replace Turkey's 1982 Constitution with an entirely new Constitution, therefore our question for Ms. Jud was: Are you of the opinion that any changes regarding the Constitution will happen soon and if, will this mean better future for non-Turkish population?

"History has given the Justice and Development Party (AKP) the opportunity to represent change and rectify ideological faults in this country. Given that for the last three decades Turkey has been governed under a military constitution, the democratic merits of AKP's proposal could not be more obvious. First time in history Turkey will be governed under a civilian constitution which is being drafted by the Commission for Constitutional Agreement, composed by parliament members of all parties, including the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) which is a representative of Kurdish interests. That is unprecedented in whole Turkish history and brings high expectations for improvements. Because the main aim is that the new constitution gets consensual approval the process is long and difficult, but surely has democratic potential and already proven positive effects on the talks with Kurdish rebels.

Our bid to hammer out a new constitution could boost efforts to solve Kurdish question and end a conflict with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with whom the government is currently conducting settlement talks, by affording them greater rights. So far we are well on that way and a recent poll showed that the reform enjoys more than 70% of public support. It is of great importance that the AKP leadership and Kurdish politicians represented in the BDP have finally converged on the view that improving the rights situation and strengthening local governance structures represent the only viable solution to the decades-long violence. Ultimately, these reforms could bring the constitutional law in line with the country's multicultural reality.

The mandate of the Commission expired in the end of April and we are waiting for its report. According to recent reports the dispute between AKP and the opposition is mainly centred on two groups of issues; political liberalisation (civil/political rights reforms) and the more institutional issues pertaining to the separation of powers. Among the proposals aimed at liberalising Turkish politics, those concerning definitions of citizenship and minority language rights are the most hotly contested as some of these articles would redefine citizenship in more inclusive terms by removing ethno-nationalist references and creating more room for the use of minority languages in an official capacity, particularly in public education and courts.”

The Peace and Democracy Party ( BDP - one of the most important representatives of the Kurds in Turkey) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas pointed that: "All citizens should not be called as "Turks" as they called now; citizens should be given the right to have education in mother language; Turkey’s diversity should be recognized and a somehow self-determination should be added into the constitution. " His point was also that PKK will not withdraw until the AKP leadership replace the old constitution with the new one. Speaking of constitutional changes, we asked Ms. Jud, how far is Turkey ready to go in order to resolve the decades-long crisis?

"The sticking points are many. From the definition of Turkish citizenship to the protection of religious freedoms, the articles under review go to the heart of some of the most deeply divisive issues in modern Turkey. However, we are staying clear of left and right extremes, focused on the political centre and “embracing all people” regardless of ethnic background. People should always be allowed to talk about their ethnicity and live their cultural identity. Within the framework of the principle of equality set forth in today Constitution, Turkish citizens who are non-Muslim minorities are, as all the citizens of the Republic of Turkey, inseparable pieces of the national culture and identity and also possessed of the opportunity to live and perpetuate their own identities and cultures.

Already without constitutional reform major changes and liberalisation have been made in this direction, starting with the establishment of the Ombudsman Office in the beginning of this year in Ankara. No other party has done so much for Kurdish rights than the AKP which was the first one capable to separate Kurdish problem from the PKK and hence holding a decent democratic dialogue with their representatives instead of using force on the both sides. In this respect Kurdish and Arabic channels were established on national television and broadcast in 29 languages on the radio, the ban for Kurdish names of places was lifted, and Kurdish became an elective subject in schools. However, not only the Turkish government but also the Kurdish stakeholders have responsibilities. They both have to reconsider their understanding of the problem and their strategies to end the crisis. As both participate in the drafting of new constitution the only outcome could be just win-win situation for all. "

At the end of 2012 Reporters without Borders have published its annual roundup, where it was released that Turkey is the world's biggest prison for journalists. According to them 72 media personnel has been detained, where approximately 42 journalists and four media assistants has been held because of their media work. It was also said that most of the imprisoned journalists are members of the Kurdish ethnic minority. At that point I asked Ms. Jud, how would she comment the numbers of imprison Kurdish media personal and claims that Turkey is a democratic state?

"If the numbers you stated were correct, I would definitely agree with the observation. But if the European Court precedents are taking into account, then we a case-by-case approach should be applied. It proves us that the myth created about Turkey as "the world’s biggest prison for journalists” is apparently wrong. One has to be very specific in critique to be credible. Above mentioned data is taken from the Committee for Protection of Journalist’s report, although the CPJ was unable to clarify us what and whom they were taking into account. It issued a clarification online afterwards in which they lessen the number and almost "agreed" with the Reporters Without Borders, which had come to the conclusion that the number of jailed journalists in Turkey was seven.

The Ministry of Justice took the reproach very seriously and went through all names and analyzed each and every case. It showed that 63 people on the list were jailed, not 72; 36 of them were indicted, and 18 of them were sentenced. The rest are still under legal investigation. The ministry admits that four cases fall under the criticized Anti-Terror Law, and the rest "had nothing to do with the conduct of journalism."30 of the 36 were either sentenced or indicted for either membership in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (a big majority), or illegal leftist groups such as the Turkish Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army or the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party or aiding/abetting these. The remaining six are accused of being members of Ergenekon, the alleged illegal terror network.

Most of the arrested journalists you are taking into account were not journalists at all, but terrorists or criminals. Just because you have a press card does not mean you are a journalist. It is clear that we are not facing a full list of victimized journalists simply because some have been linked with cases of praising openly or participating in violence. Another issue is hate speech which is not criminalized in law. If it were, some cases on the list would easily fall into that category. Let it also be known, that many of the accused have to be tested to determine if they have deliberately crossed the fine line between freedom of expression and hate speech or of being on the side of political violence. If the open praise for ETA killings is a case for prosecutors in Spain, the same should apply for those who applaud in print or broadcast violence of the PKK.

Turkey is making an effort to strike the right balance between preventing the praising of violence and terrorist propaganda, and the need to expand freedom of speech. Journalists in Turkey are now freer than they had ever been and there are new changes on the way. Turkish government has prepared a large amendment - the Fourth Judicial Reform Package – of the Counter Terrorism Law which, first enacted in 1991, still contain some articles that easily turn ideas into crimes. It decriminalizes the creation and publication of propaganda that does not encourage violence. It is rather a significant progress than a step back of Turkish democracy."

References:

Cengiz, Firat and Lars Hoffmann. 2012. Rethinking Conditionality: Turkey’s EU Accession and the Kurdish Question. Available at: http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=128229

 Countrystudies. 2013. Kurds. Available at: http://countrystudies.us/turkey/28.htm

EA WorldView. 2013. Turkey Analisis: Kurdish fighters begin Withdrawal - Is it Peace on the Way?. Available at: http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/4/22/turkey-analysis-kurdish-fighters-begin-withdrawal-is-peace-o.html

MRG. 2013.  UK Parliamentary Recognition of Kurdish Genocide in Iraq: What This Means for Minority Groups Today. Available at: http://minorityrights.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/uk-parliamentary-recognition-of-kurdish-genocide-in-iraq-what-this-means-for-minority-groups-today/

Reporters Without Borders. 2012. Turkey- world's biggest prison for journalists. Available at: http://en.rsf.org/turkey-turkey-world-s-biggest-prison-for-19-12-2012,43816.html

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 This is a series of articles on the topic 'inter-ethnic issues involving minorities', the aim of which is to examine particular/current issues that different states are facing