By: Baqi Barzani

Oct 1, 2005

Turkey is paving its way to join the European Union. Ankara has been striving intensely for decades, but adequate criteria to comply with the EU standards has yet not been demonstrated in relation to a new deal for the Kurds (the world's largest ethnic group without a state), reform of the judicial and penal system, the abolition of torture and an eagerness to come to terms over divided Cyprus.

EU members have expressed doubts regarding Turkey's human rights record. Amnesty International and Helsinki Watch, two human rights monitoring organizations supported by the EU, have reported the persistence of practices such as arbitrary arrests, disappearances, extra judicial killings, torture in prisons, and censorship. The Turkish Human Rights Association, itself subject to harassment and intimidation tactics, has prepared detailed chronologies and lists of human rights abuses, including the destruction of entire Kurdish villages without due process, and has circulated these reports widely in Europe. The documented reports of human rights abuses, like the coup rumors, sustained questions about Turkey's qualifications to join a collective body of countries that have striven to achieve uniform standards for protecting citizen rights.

Turkey's self-styled adjustment into a European state is more goaded by economic essential than a legitimate aspiration to put into practice democratic principles and values comparable to that of any member state. Turkey is a country that has a history of autocracy, tyranny and violence. They continue to subdue the 15 million Kurdish minorities in southeast. Their recent chronicle is replete with rape, torture and oppression. As recent as 1974 they violated international law by invading Cyprus and continue to occupy the north illegally. It is petrifying to assume how Turkey would handle its rule if it were ever as strong as the US. Their human injustices stem from their Military state and until these revolutions, it would be not viable to assure that their government will no longer breach basic human rights and seek to bully or use aggression for their own personal gain. The army, heirs to Ataturk's legacy of the secular, singular, state, has waged a cruel war against Kurdish demands for cultural identity and national rights. Nationalists, who adamantly want to see the imprisoned Kurdish-separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan hanged, have strongly resisted European calls for the death penalty to be abolished.

The Turkish government's stance about the human rights violations in Kurdistan is that the rumors are forged, and diplomatic records and other documentary evidence detailing the massacres, destruction and genocides were either concocted or distorted, and do not reflect the truth. For many years, Turkey has fallen short to recognize most of the minorities within its margins. In truth, state authorities have endeavored to “ Turkify “ many of the minorities, such as the Greeks and the Kurds. Turkey must go further to improve cultural rights for its Kurdish minority before it gets the go ahead to begin talks on joining the 25-member bloc. Ankara has kept a tight lid on the use of the Kurdish language for so long, seeing it as a political rallying point for separatists, but a swath of reforms aimed at winning a start date for EU talks paved the way in June for the first, very limited Kurdish-language broadcasts on state radio and television. There are more than 15 million Kurds in Turkey. It is no longer a crime to assert one¹s Kurdish identity, and in three cities Kurdish language courses had begun. Only in three cities? Kurds are spread all over Turkey.  Leyla Zana, a human rights activist, a writer and an advocate of democratic reform and three other members of Parliament, who were imprisoned since 1994, were released. After 10 years? And re-apprehended, re-tried and re-sentenced for the same charge? No question about recent Turkey’ claim of free speech, cultural and linguistic rights observation. The state-owned TRT television network broadcast its first Kurdish-language program, a thirty-minute mix of news and features. Just thirty minutes of TV programming (to be good Turks?), for millions of Kurds, in June 2004? There is more TV programming for Greeks in Astoria than for the 15 million plus Kurds in Turkey. This is progress, qualifying Turkey in the EU!?

The rights and freedom of all minorities are a high priority and an essential element in the country’s EU candidacy. Turkey needs to demonstrate it has: stability of institutions guarantying democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. There is still much to be done on civil liberties and basic human rights. Turkey also needs to recognize formally the genocide of the Armenians in 1915. More than 10,000 imprisoned activists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) including its leader, Abdullah Öcalan are serving terms in notorious jails on charges of waging war for their cultural, Political and civil rights.  The killing of tens of thousands of Kurds is yet vague and undocumented by the international community. The “ Turkification “  policy in Kurdistan has to stop immediately and be renounced by the European Human Rights Commission.

Before the EU approves Turkey’s admission, the constitution should guarantee the right of persons belonging to all national minorities to take part in public life, including voting, being elected, participating in public offices and freedom of association and expression.

Turkey should facilitate the establishment and maintenance by persons belonging to national minorities of broadcast media in their own language. Turkey must make sure that the Kurds have the basic right to establish and maintain their educational institutions, organizations or associations, to ensure they have adequate opportunities of the teaching both of and in their mother tongue. The 30% constituting Kurdish population of the entire Turkey should least be entitled to hold one of the high presidential or ministerial key posts in the government. The peaceful recognition of the cultural and political identity of the Kurds in a democratic system and the determination of imbalanced anti-Kurdish policies would further help improve both regional instability and economic prosperity in Kurdistan and Turkey.