donderdag 19 mei 2011
dinsdag 17 mei 2011
CHILDRENS RIGHTS IN TURKISH KURDISTAN: STATE OF PLAY AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS AND INGO'S
Legal Framework
UN Conventions
Having ratified the CRC on 4 April 1995, the Turkish government has an obligation to protect children living in Turkey, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or sex. However, at the time of ratification Turkey stated that it reserved the right to interpret and apply the provisions of a number of articles of the CRC, ‘according to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and those of the Treaty of Lausanne’, which constricts the officially recognised minorities in Turkey to non-muslims. The relevant articles are: Article 17, covering a child’s right to have access to information and materials from a diverse source of national and international mass media; Article 29, which provides for a child’s right to education that encourages cultural respect and diversity; and Article 30, which covers a child’s right to participate in his or her culture, language and religion.
After ratification, Turkey was required to submit an implementation report within two years. Upon receipt of this report in 1999, the working group of the Committee on the Rights of the Child requested further information on a number of specific concerns regarding the implementation of the CRC. Turkey was required to submit a second periodic report by 2 May 2002 and a third by 3 May 2007. However, it has yet to submit either of these reports.
On 8 June 2001, after reviewing reports from leading human rights NGOs and information provided by the Turkish government, the Committee emphasised the following issues:
1) The potential negative impact of Turkey’s ‘reservations’ on the rights of children not recognised under the Treaty of Lausanne, particularly Kurdish children;
2) Discrepancies between the law and practice of legal review, particularly with regard to the pre-trial detention of children;
3) The need for Turkey to develop stronger programmes to ensure the economic and social protection of children in the most vulnerable circumstance, including those in south-eastern Turkey;
4) Regional and socio-economic disparities and their grave consequences on the development of children, particularly in the Southeast;
5) Concerns regarding the number of displaced Kurdish children and their lack of substantial housing, health services and education;
6) The finding that a significant number of children working or living on the streets are mainly reliant on NGO assistance, with most not receiving government aid.
There are two additional protocols to the CRC. The first is entitled the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts. This was ratified by Turkey in June 2004. The second is the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which was ratified by Turkey in 2002. Turkey is also party to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traficking Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Turkey ratified the ECHR in 1954, in addition to Protocol 1, which enshrines the right to protection of property, to education and to free elections. In 2004, Turkey ratified Protocol 13, which prohibits the death penalty in all circumstances, including in times or war and at times of danger of war. In October 2006, Turkey ratified Protocol No. 14, amending the control system of the ECHR.
Significantly, the majority of cases establishing violations of the ECHR and its Protocols by the Turkish government have related to events in the Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey.
The European Social Charter
The European Social Charter (ESC) was adopted to complement the ECHR. It provides further protection from discrimination and the protection of the social wellbeing of European citizens. This treaty in particular secures the protection of children’s rights.
Turkey ratified the ESC on 24 November 1989. On 26 June 2007 it ratified the Revised Social Charter, accepting 91 of its 98 paragraphs. However, Turkey has neither signed nor ratified Protocol 3, which provides for a system of collective complaints.
Further, Turkey has not signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, or the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
"Mother Tongue First" is published
Diyarbakir Institute for Political and Social Research (DİSA) continue its researches and studies on the Use of Mother Tongue in Education. In this respect, the program named Advocacy for Mother Tongue in Education has been prepared to ensure the Use of Kurdish as Mother Tongue in Education. For this aim, a series of multilingual brochures named Mother Tongue First will be published to raise the public awareness and to enrich the current discussions based on sound data. The first of these bilingual brochures has already been published in Kurdish and Turkish sharing the same name with the series Mother Tongue First. Within this first brochure, topics such as the importance of the use of mother tongue in education, the relationship between mother tongue-based education and gender, revolutionary education, language policies and practices, linguistic interdependence, economic aspects of bilingual education and linguistic biodiversity have been covered through the abridged articles by worldwide known experts. We are happy to share this work of us with you. Click here.
HOU DE KOERDEN ARM! - ONTWIKKELINGSPOLITIEK IN TURKS KOERDISTAN
Nina Henkens - mei 2011
De Koerden genieten weinig faam, en als er al over hen gesproken wordt is het meestal in weinig flatterende termen zoals 'terroristen of 'separatisten'. Maar er is meer aan de hand. De Koerdische regio is chronisch onderontwikkeld. Het gewapende conflict dat de laatste jaren sterk in intensiteit is afgenomen heeft desastreuze gevolgen voor de welvaart in het oosten van Turkije. Ook internationale, neoliberale hervormingen waren niet bevordelijk voor duurzame ontwikkeling. De pogingen van de Turkse regering om te investeren in de regio over de hoofden van de bevolking heen hebben weinig of geen resultaat.
THE KURDISH ISSUE IN TURKEY: THE RIGHT TO EXIST IS NOT ENOUGH
By Nurcan Baysal, Dilan Bozgan and Nina Henkens
Submitted to the Prague Security Institute on the occasion of the conference 'Where is Turkey heading?', May 4 2011
Introduction
For the last few years there has been a general feeling of losing momentum and general ignorance of the Kurdish people and their problems. There are a few different perspectives to the Kurdish question in Turkey. For some it is an underdevelopment and economic problem, for most it is an identity problem. The authors argue that there is a need to consider both of them together, not separately. They also argue that the inability to openly discuss the main causes of the problems for Kurdish people, which is the armed conflict in the southeast, is hindering development and the peace process in a very important way.
The report will not consist of a theoretically based political analyses but will adress the everyday difficulties for people living in the Kurdish regions, which the authors consider to be the biggest obstacles for a durable peaceful solution of the conflict. The authors would like to thank the Prague Security Institute and the Heinrich Boll Stiftung for making the conference possible and inviting us to contribute our ideas and letting us participate in the valuable discussion on where Turkey is heading.
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