NATIONAL MINORITIES OPPRESSED IN TURKEY
By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.

AZG Armenian Daily #229
12/12/2007

Human Rights and Turkey

And Threatened by Growing Nationalism

Yesterday the Minorities Rights Group, residing in London, published
a report, which says that Turkey denies the existence and therefore
the human rights of numerous ethnic, culture, language and religious
minority groups on its territory. The report also says that Armenians,
Kurds, Romanians and representatives of other nations are undergoing
severe national discrimination and are threatened by nationalist
forces in Turkey.

According to the Minorities Rights Group report, in spite of several
improvements connected with the negotiation process on Turkey’s EU
membership, the situation of the national minorities in that country
still remains unsatisfactory. The authors of the report express hope
that the amendments to the Constitution of Turkey, to be submitted to
Milli Meclis (the Parliament of Turkey) in 2008, shall have positive
effect on minorities’ rights protection.

This information was received from the ANF News Agency, with
a reference to "Hye Tert", Istanbul. On the same day "Radikal"
newspaper published an article on Turkey’s official policy on
minorities, which said, "If someone says he is a citizen of Turkey,
but Laz, Georgian, Cherqez, Armenian, Jew, Greek, Alavi, Assyrian or
Ezidi by origin, the Government answers that each citizens of Turkey
is supposed to be a Turk and Sunnite by faith. The Government does
not give you the right of having different ethnicity or of religious
freedom. Although the ‘We Are All Turks’ and ‘Turkey is for Turks’
slogans proved inconsistent and were replaced by the tendency of
considering Turkic the entire population of the Republic of Turkey,
the Government still has a ideologically and politically biassed
approach to the issue of national minorities.

In the meanwhile Turkey is conducting membership negotiations with
the EU, basing upon European values."

Thus, the report of the Minorities Rights Group, London, is proved
by the abovementioned publication of "Radikal", and vice versa. But
the fact the problems of national minorities have been realized in
the Turkish society does not imply that the problems are soon to be
solved. The Ankara officials are going on with insisting upon the
unitary organization of the Turkish statehood. Therefore growing
self-consciousness of national, ethnic and other minority groups is
considered a threat to the national integrity and security of the
Republic of Turkey.