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REPORT
PROPOSITIONS REGARDING
THE SOLUTION OF DEMOCARCY AND KURDISH PROBLEM IN TURKEY
26-27 June 2004
PROPOSITIONS REGARDING THE SOLUTION OF
DEMOCRACY AND KURDISH PROBLEM IN THE EU PROCESS
As it is known, Turkey
has been conferred the status of “Candidate Country” in 10-11
December 1999 Helsinki
summit. At this rate, it appears to be possible for the European
Council to take an affirmative decision in the summit in December
2004, in respect of starting the accession negotiations with
Turkey.
As Rights and Freedoms Party, we have organized symposiums
on “Turkey and Kurds in the EU Process” in many regions of
Turkey, particularly in Diyarbakır in order to examine
the EU accession process of Turkey and to determine the attitude
and expectations of the Kurdish people concerning the EU accession
process of Turkey. (Regrettably, the first meeting we planned
to hold in Diyarbakır
on 11 April 2004 was prohibited by Diyarbakır
Governorship. This practice was an unlucky situation which
was opposite to the spirit of the process).
Hundreds of people including intellectuals, jurists,
writers, trade unionists, artists, representatives of the
non-governmental organizations and politicians participated
to the meetings we held. Most of the participants stated in
written form or orally their thoughts regarding the expectations
of the Kurds from the EU process. It is favorable for us to
share with you the opinions and proposals with the main features
revealed as a result of all these participative meetings and
discussions.
Kurds are one of the Oldest Nations in
the Middle East and should Freely Enjoy all National Democratic
Rights like every Nation
Contrary to what is often stated, the Kurds are not a minority
but one of the oldest and greatest settled nations of the
Middle East. The Kurds have their own
language called Kurdish from Indo- European Language Group,
a wealthy culture and a history dating back to a quite ancient
history. A part of this nation which amounts approximately
to 20 million lives in the Turkish territories.
During the War of Independence, the promises made to the
Kurds by the administrators of that period were forgotten
by the foundation of the Republic and the execution of the
Lausanne Peace Treaty and a unitary policy denying the existence
of the Kurds was began to be followed. When revolted in order
to seek their national democratic rights, those were suppressed
by shedding blood and millions of Kurds were banished. 1925
Sheikh Sait Rebellion, 1930 Ağrı Rebellion and 1937
Dersim Revolt were among the most important Kurdish rebellions
suppressed by shedding blood in the Republican period.
After the proclamation of the Republic, as the existence
of the Kurdish nation, also the language and culture of the
Kurds were also ignored and the Kurds were subjected to a
grand assimilation campaign and tried to be made Turkish.
The region where the Kurds used to live was economically and
socially left behind and outdated social structures were consciously
protected and maintained in these regions.
Briefly, the Kurds have been excluded from all fields of
economic, political, social and cultural life throughout the
history of the Turkish
Republic.
After the coup d’etat in 1980, the pressure and denial policy
applied regarding the Kurds has gone off the rails. The armed
actions initiated by PKK in 1984 created a great opportunity
for the government to put the pressure and annihilation policies
into practice.
In the last 15-20 years, the Kurds and the region where
they live have been made the target of a total destruction
policy.
With the involuntary migration policies followed, the demographical
structure of the region where the Kurds lived was corrupted,
thousands of villages and towns were burnt and evacuated and
around 3 millions of people living there had been forced to
migrate involuntarily. As a result of the armed conflicts
occurred in the last fifteen years, according to official
date; around 35 thousand and actually over 50 thousand people
lost their lives and people of nearly the same amount have
been injured. In this period, thousands of people have been
murdered as a result of murders with ‘unknown perpetrator’.
With the Rural Guards system established, seeds of hostility
have been planted among the Kurdish society. Together with
the institutions such as the State of Emergency
Governorship, Private Team and Gendarmerie
Intelligence (JİTEM), the life in the region became intolerable.
In the recent period, in spite of certain arrangements made
in the framework of alignment with EU the denial policy followed
in the issue of the Kurdish problem is not mainly abandoned
and the existence of the Kurdish people is still not officially
recognized.
On the other hand, the ones governing Turkey
have been trying to show the Kurdish problem as a problem
of public order for years and have transferred the settlement
duty to security forces and applied pressure. In the last
twenty years, the Kurdish problem has been made identical
with PKK and this problem has been tried to be reflected to
domestic and foreign public opinion as a problem of “terror”.
This way, legitimacy was wanted to be given to pressure policies
followed against the Kurdish people.
However, the Kurdish problem is mainly a national problem.
But at the same time it has a complicated structure which
has economical, social, political, cultural, historical and
geopolitical dimensions and related to numbers of countries
(such as Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria). It is of great importance
to accept the problem in this manner.
‘Accession Partnership Document’ and ‘National Program’
is far from defining the Rights of the Kurdish People
One of the foundation purposes of the EU is to ensure the
environment of stability and sustainable peace. Under the
conditions of Turkey,
one of the most important provisions of fulfilling such a
purpose is to solve the Kurdish problem democratically on
the basis of equality of rights. However, the Accession Partnership
Document and the National Program prepared by the Government
and the proofread versions thereof are far from this rationale
and understanding.
Furthermore, as the EU did not put the Kurds and the Kurdish
problem into this framework in the Accession Partnership Document
and Progress Reports issued by itself, a serious anxiety and
dissatisfaction appeared among the Kurdish people. However,
the European Parliament has decided in 1992 that the Kurdish
People had the Right to determine their own destiny.
Both in the Accession Partnership Document and in the National
Program of Turkey, the Kurdish problem was either ignored,
or it was often reduced to the level of personal rights. It
is not appropriate for the equity principles of the EU that
it wanted the Kurds to be contented with the crumbs of rights
while talking about equality and justice in the settlement
of the Cyprus
problem.
The National program prepared by Turkey
is not consistent with the philosophy of the EU, its democratic
criteria and rationale. Furthermore, the involvement of the
society, particularly the Kurds has not been provided and
what they wanted was not considered at the preliminary stage
of the National Program. It is obvious that such a program
will not be sufficient to enable Turkey
to structure pluralistic and participative democracy in EU
norms.
Our party has insistently attracted attention to deficiencies
and faults in this field in the 25 March 2003 dated report it published
in the period in which “The Laws on Alignment to EU” were
discussed and ratified in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
However, regretfully the representatives of the parliament
and the government have insisted on what they knew. Consequently,
a picture far from the rooted democratization demands of Turkey
has appeared.
What is the situation in the field of human rights, freedom
of organization, meeting and protest marches, briefly the
sine qua non norms of democracy in spite of all these “alignment
packages” and modifications made?
What has and has not been done in the framework
of Alignment with EU?
Until the date on which this report has been prepared, the
Turkish Grand National Assembly has performed a series of
legal and constitutional amendments comprising 8 packages.
Since 2002, the principal amendments and arrangements at
legal and constitutional level may be listed as below:
Within this period;
The State of Emergency
was abolished.
The 8th article of the Turkish Civil Code was
abolished.
Capital punishment was taken out from the constitution first
on condition that war conditions shall be excluded and then
completely.
The prohibition on talking in Kurdish in the Constitution
and the related articles were abolished.
Closing the parties was made more difficult.
It was rendered free to ‘Make television broadcasts and
opening courses in languages other than Turkish” on condition
to be dependent on many conditions and limitations.
However these arrangements are quite underdeveloped and
insufficient steps in terms of solving the Kurdish problem
and regarding the rooted democratization demands of Turkey.
Above all, 1982 Constitution prepared in the military regime
period is still present. The picture in the field of human
rights violations clearly reveals in the annual reports published
by the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (THRF), Human Rights
Association (HRA) and Mazlum Der (Organization for Human Rights
and Solidarity for Oppressed People). According to 2003 annual
reports published by these organizations; cases of torture
and ill-treatment continued in this period, people lost their
lives as a result of extrajudicial killing and attacks with
unknown perpetrators and investigations are opened against
the civil servants due to their opinions and actions. Furthermore,
in these reports it was determined that “The pressure on political
parties, non-governmental organizations, journalists, writers
and artists for the reason of expressing opinions which do
not comply with the official opinion persisted”.
Leaded by HAK-PAR and its directors, parties and their directors
who talked about the settlement of the Kurdish problem have
faced various lawsuits.
Even only the antidemocratic applications faced by our party
are quite informative about the restrictions on the rights
and freedoms in Turkey.
A lawsuit was brought before the Supreme Court against HAK-PAR
aiming at closure in March 2002, namely in the first month
of its foundation. The opened lawsuit is still pending. Similarly,
an investigation has been initiated by Ankara Office of the
Attorney General of the Republic as Kurdish was spoken in
the Regular Meeting in Ankara
on 04.01.2004 and as the invitations were printed in Kurdish-Turkish
and this investigation also still persists. Again, various
lawsuits were opened against the party managers, particularly
against the President Abdulmelik Fırat as they explained
their opinions concerning the problems in Turkey
and the solutions thereof or as they have spoken in Kurdish
in the meetings. Some of them have been finalized and some
still continue.
Not only these;
The Rural Guards are still present.
The 82nd article of the Law on Political Parties
which prevents the usage of languages other than Turkish by
the Political Parties is a serious problem.
The 312th article of the Turkish Criminal Code
which is valid in spite of the abolished 8th article
of the Turkish Civil Code constitutes a serious obstacle against
freedom of thought and expression.
The 159th article of the Turkish Criminal Code
restricts the freedom of criticism and expression at a great
extent.
Regulations made in the field of radio – TV broadcast in
Kurdish and in the field of courses in Kurdish, are of a derisive
quality in spite of meeting the demands of the Kurds in this
field.
Although it is accepted in the legislation ‘to broadcast
in different languages and dialects used by the Turkish citizens
in their daily lives”, this right has been limited to definite
daily and weekly hours. In this framework, since 09.06.2004
a broadcast for 35 minutes in TRT radio and TRT 3 TV channel
has been started. However, this step is far from enabling
people to enjoy the right of broadcast in Kurdish.
Regarding education, there had been amendments in the legislation
permitting the opening of private courses with the purpose
of teaching different languages and dialects that the Turkish
people use in their daily lives. However as no course had
been opened by the government, no steps had been taken concerning
the right of education in the mother language.
According to our party, in addition to Turkish, Kurdish
should be accepted as the official language for correspondence
in the field of public/government affairs in the regions where
the Kurds live in majority and also as the language of education
in education and training institutions.
Making Kurdish, which is the language used by the Kurds
who constitute a population of more than 20 millions, the
language of education at the level of all education institutions,
- in primary, secondary and higher education institutions-
is a right of citizenship, beyond the Political Criteria of
Copenhagen.
Similarly, all limitations regarding the broadcast in Kurdish
in radio and TV should be eliminated and one channel of TRT
should be allocated for broadcast in Kurdish.
Universal Norms should provide Guidance
in Solving the Kurdish Problem
As it is seen, in spite of certain arrangements made in
the EU membership process, a rooted and sincere policy on
Kurdish issue has not still been developed in Turkey.
Because, the Kurdish people have not been officially recognized
and satisfactory steps have been not been taken in the field
of Kurdish and broadcast in Kurdish.
Whereas the Kurds, as the other nations in the world, are
in favor of enjoying all national democratic rights including
the right to direct themselves.
There are a number of countries in the world which have
national-ethnical problems like Turkey
and which have solved these problems by peaceful and political
means. Countries such as Spain,
Belgium,
Germany
and England
which are members of the EU are the main countries which have
solved these kinds of national-ethnical problems in a peaceful
way. The Cyprus Plan of the UN is another solution model that
Turkey
may use.
On the other hand, international agreements and decisions
which bind both EU and Turkey and which are of the quality
of primary legal documents have an understanding which deem
legal the humane demands of the Kurds in this respect.
- According to Wilson’s
Principles published post First World War; whether weak or
powerful, the right of all people and nations to live in equality
and in freedom and safety has been accepted as a principle
of justice.
- In the Peace Treaty of Sevres signed in 1920, both parties
declared that they would recognize the independent Kurdish
State.
- In the Convention on Individuals’ Rights and Freedoms
accepted by the United Nations in 1966, the principle indicating
that “All nations have the right of self-determination” takes
place.
-According to the 14 December 1960 dated and 1514 numbered
decision of
”Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples” of UN General Assembly, “All peoples have the
right of self-determination. As a natural result of this right,
they designate their political statutes and freely follow
their cultural development”.
-In the 1950 Declaration on Colonies, the Right of the Nations
to designate their own Destiny had been accepted.
- In the Bonds of Brotherhood Declaration accepted in the
UN General Assembly in 1970, the Right of the Nations to designate
their own Destiny had been accepted.
For the Solution of the Kurdish Problem
and a Democracy at the EU Standards;
Turkey
should re-structure in a pluralistic and participative manner,
in accordance with its multi-ethnic structure in the country.
For democracy and for solving the Kurdish problem, the central,
unitary and awkward political structure must be abandoned.
A decentralized and federal system necessitated by the European
Union norms must be established. Such a system must provide
to the Kurds, equal opportunities for participation into all
fields of life, particularly in political life. Turkey
may synthesize one or more of the solution models in the world
regarding this issue and may adapt the said solution to its
own conditions. Main concrete steps to be taken for all of
the above-stated may be listed as follows:
- In spite of the 12 September Constitution dressed by force
on the society as a strait jacket, a constitution recognizing
the Kurdish identity, guaranteeing the presence and rights
of the Kurdish people, in conformity with the new, democratic,
pluralistic and universal law.
-All prohibitions on the freedom of organization should
be abolished. All kinds of thoughts which do not include violence
should be bonded to legal guarantee in the framework of freedom
of organization. In this sense, Kurdish parties should be
enabled to conduct legal activities.
- In regions where the Kurds live in majority, the language
of education - from basic education to university - should
be Kurdish and in the other regions, Kurdish should be an
elective course.
-All restrictions regarding radio and television broadcast
in Kurdish should be abolished, in a channel of TRT broadcast
in Kurdish should be made on full-time basis.
-In regions where the Kurds live in majority, in addition
to Turkish, Kurdish should also be used in the public area.
- Institutions and institutes supported by the Government,
studying the Kurdish language, history and culture should
be founded.
-The Kurdish names of settlement and geographical areas
(such as mountains, rivers, plains and lakes) should be given
back.
- Administrative prohibitions originating from the practice
preventing the Kurdish families from giving Kurdish names
to their children should be eliminated.
- It should be rendered free to found political parties,
associations, foundations, trade unions, clubs, professional
chambers and legal and actual barriers preventing them from
using Kurdish language in their activities should be abolished.
- A Local Parliament involving the regions where the Kurdish
people are in majority should be established and education,
health, public order and other general administrative services
should be left to this Parliament. Local administrations should
be democratized and strengthened.
- An amnesty for the political prisoner and convicted people
should be granted for overcoming the disappointments occurred
in the society and for providing an atmosphere of peace.
- The Rural Guards system and Private Team units should
be abolished.
- All necessary conditions and opportunities should be provided
for the return of the people who were made to migrate from
their villages by force.
- The perpetrators of the political murders committed in
the past should be revealed and punished.
- Economic and social underdevelopment in the regions where
the Kurds live in majority must be immediately interfered,
the prosperity level of the region must be raised and special
projects related to unemployment and poverty should be applied.
- All anti-democratic laws such as the Law on Election,
Law on Meeting, Manifestation and March, Criminal Code, Turkish
Civil Code and particularly the Law on Political Parties should
be re-organized in accordance with the EU standards and
acquis.
- Laws and applications damaging the freedom of belief and
universal secularism must be abandoned. In spite of the Department
of Religious Affairs which is a result of this understanding,
conducting such services should be left to people in a free
atmosphere.
Our party is ready to fulfill its responsibilities in all
of the phases in the process of solving the Kurdish problem
and to provide all contributions expected from itself.
Our party supports the candidature negotiations with Turkey
to be started after Turkey
fully fulfills what is required by the Copenhagen Criteria
and takes serious steps for solving the Kurdish problem in
this framework.
In this framework, we invite particularly the Turkish Grand
National Assembly, Government and political parties that have
groups in the parliament to make the legal amendments necessary
for taking the steps we propose in the articles stated above.
These amendments to be made are necessary for us; the Turks,
Kurds and everyone living in Turkey.
HAK-PAR
PARTY FOR RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
26-27 June 2004
The following organisations in Europe are supporting this
report and its demands:
KOMKAR- Union of Associations of Kurdistan in Germany,
KOMKAR - Denmark, KOMKAR -Austria, KOMKAR - Sweden, KOMKAR
- Switzerland, KOMJIN - Union of Kurdish Women Associations
in Germany, KOMCIWAN - Union of Kurdish Youth in Germany,
Union of Kurdish Workers in Holland, Dema Nu - Europe, Association
of Kurdish Writers in Sweden, IMK - International Kurdish
Human Rights Centre
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