Turkey country assessment

Ethnic Groups

6.218 As outlined in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official General report on Turkey published in January 2002 “Turkey has a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. Ethnically and linguistically, in addition to Turks and Kurds, Turkey also includes small groups of Armenians, Greeks, Turkmen’s, Circassians, Laz, Bulgarians, Georgians and Arabs.” [2a] (p7)

6.219 A report from Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) ‘Minorities in Turkey’ published in July 2004 noted that:
“The Kurdish community is the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, with a population estimated to be at least 15 million. They mostly live in south-eastern and eastern Turkey, although a large number have migrated to cities in western Turkey. The Roma population is over 500,000 according to official records, and Roma live throughout Turkey. The Bosnian population is more than 1 million. Arabs live in all parts of Turkey, but are concentrated in the provinces of Antakya, Mardin and Siirt. Some define themselves by religion (as Alevis) rather than as Arabs. The Circassians, who number over 3 million, live throughout Turkey. Laz live around Artvin, Rize and in the large cities. Their population is between 500,000 and 1 million. Ethnic Bulgarians mostly live in Thrace.” [57b] (p7)
6.220 The World Dictionary of Minorities (1997) reported that despite efforts to include all minorities in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey refused any distinct status for non-Muslims. Therefore only Greeks, Armenian Christians and Jews were formally acknowledged as minorities. [57a] (p379)
6.221 The US State Department report (USSD) 2004, published 28 February 2005, reported that “The Constitution regards all citizens as equal and prohibits discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds; however, societal and official violence and discrimination against women and minorities remained problems…The Constitution provides a single nationality designation for all Turks and does not recognize ethnic groups as national, racial, or ethnic minorities.“ [5c] (Section 5)
6.222 As outlined by Kirsty Hughes in a paper dated December 2004 entitled ‘The political dynamics of Turkish accession to the EU: a European success story or the EU most contested enlargement?’:
“The issue of minority rights burst strongly into Turkish public debate in November 2004 with the publication of a report on minorities by the Human Rights Advisory Board, an advisory body to the Prime Minister… In the ensuing public and media debate, the government distanced itself firmly from the report (leaving, some critics said, the authors exposed to vilification and criticism) – while some from the nationalist right suggested its authors should be charged with treason. Many academic observers and human rights commentators suggest the report is a good and serious one and that the furore shows that these issues have been taboo for too long but at least now they are entering into wider, if not yet very rational, discussion.” [77] (p19)
6.223 Kirsty Hughes paper continued:
Turkey in fact encompasses extensive ethnic and religious diversity. The two largest minority groups are the Alevis (a religious minority) and Kurds (some of who are Alevis). Some suggest that up to 47 different ethnic groups can be identified in Turkey. Officially, the only minorities recognised in Turkey were defined by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne to be three non-Muslim religious groups – orthodox Greeks, Jews and Armenians. Not only did this not recognise other religious minorities but it also ignored ethnic and linguistic definitions of minorities, which is not compatible with modern international human rights law on minorities. The report called for a broader definition of citizenship, so that citizens could be citizens ‘of Turkey’ (in Turkish Turkiyeli – of Turkey), rather than Turks.” [77] (p19)

Kurds

6.224 As noted in the USSD 2004:
“Citizens of Kurdish origin constitute a large ethnic and linguistic group. Millions of the country’s citizens identified themselves as Kurds and spoke Kurdish. Kurds who publicly or politically asserted their Kurdish ethnic identity or publicly espoused using Kurdish in the public domain risked public censure, harassment, or prosecution.” [5c] (Section 5)
6.225 As outlined by the Council of Europe European Commission against Racism and Intolerance in its ‘Third report on Turkey - Adopted on 25 June 2004 and made public on 15 February 2005’:
“According to estimates, there are between twelve and fifteen million Kurds living in Turkey. There are no official statistics as national censuses do not take account of people’s ethnic origins. The Kurds live mainly in the South-East, although many of them have left the region as part of the drift to the towns and also because of the armed conflict that went on for several years between the authorities and the PKK.” [76] (p20)
6.226 The ECRI report also stated:
“ECRI is pleased to note that the constitutional and legislative changes in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms should help to give the Kurds greater freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association. It notes, however, that in the case of the Kurds, such freedoms are still severely curtailed, especially in practice. ECRI notes in particular reports that Kurdish students have been arrested and/or expelled from university for having signed petitions or demonstrated in support of the teaching of Kurdish in universities. A number of persons have allegedly been convicted for listening to Kurdish music in private. In some cases, however, persons who have expressed their Kurdish identity by peaceful means have been acquitted. ECRI hopes that the new laws will pave the way for a rapid improvement in this area. It notes that parents are now permitted by law to give their children Kurdish first names, even though a circular prohibits them from choosing names incorporating the letters Q, W or X, which exist in the Kurdish language but not in the Turkish alphabet.“ [76] (p22)
6.227 The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2002 estimated that there were 13 million Kurds in Turkey. [2a] (p7) It also stated that “The great majority of the Kurdish population speaks Kurmanji, while Zaza, which is unintelligible to Kurmanji speakers, is spoken in the provinces of Tunceli, Elaziğ, Diyarbakır, Bingöl and Şanliurfa. Most of the Kurdish population is Sunni Muslim. The remainder, namely speakers of Zaza, are Alevis.“ [2a] (p124)
6.228 The Netherlands report 2002 also observed that
“The Government in Turkey does not persecute Kurds solely because they are Kurds. This would be incompatible with the concept of the state, according to which a person’s ethnic origins do not matter as long as they comply with the principles of the Turkish Republic. All Turkish citizens (including the Kurds) therefore have equal access to public institutions such as health care and authorities responsible for issuing official documents.” [2a] (p126)
6.229 The European Commission Regular Report on Turkey’s progress towards Accession 2004, published 6 October 2004
“As regards the protection of cultural rights, there has been important progress since 1999. The Constitution has been amended lifting the ban on the use of languages other than Turkish…. More generally, the authorities have shown greater tolerance towards the use of Kurdish. Despite the progress that has been made, there are still considerable restrictions on the exercise of cultural rights.”