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TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTRY CONFIRMS 'RACE CODES' FOR MINORITIES
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 2 2013
ISTANBUL - Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey's Interior Ministry has confirmed that minorities in the country
are given codes depending on which community they belong to and that
such information is sent to the Education Ministry, less than a week
after the categorization system was revealed by weekly Agos.
"Minority citizens' race status is given to the Education Ministry
depending on the nationality or race information taken from the state
register of the Ottoman period," the ministry said in a statement
that was sent to the Armenian-Turkish weekly on Aug. 1. The statement
also said contemporary state registers did not record any information
about the race or sect of citizens.
"There are no terms of race, breed, or sect in the state registers,"
said the statement sent to Agos.
Minority citizens' race status is taken from their nationality or race
information during Ottoman times and sent to the Education Ministry,
according to the 40th and 41st articles of the Lausanne Treaty, which
was signed between Turkey and Western countries in 1923 and presaged
the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
In Turkey, only minority communities' members can register their
children at minority schools, according to the Lausanne Treaty,
said the statement.
"Depending on the citizens' demands, religions such as Islam,
Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism or
Zoroastrianism can be recorded in the state family register, according
to the 2nd and 35th articles of Law No. 5490," the statement added.
The debate over the "race codes" was raised on Aug. 1 after Agos
reported an official document penned by the Istanbul Provincial
Education Directorate, revealing that Turkey's population
administration system had been recording citizens who have Armenian,
Jewish or Anatolian Greek (Rum) origins with secret "race codes."
"Citizens with Armenian origins are coded with '2,'" Agos said in
its lead story on Aug. 1.
The secret coding system emerged when a Turkish citizen of Armenian
origin attempted to register her child at an Armenian kindergarten
only to be told by the school to prove that she has the "2 code."
A document sent from the Istanbul Provincial Education Directorate to
the Å~^iÅ~_li District National Education office stated that "since
1923, the secret code of Armenians is '2' on identity registration
certificates," according to Agos.
"Since 1923, identity registration certificates have had a secret
'race code,'" the document added.
Ä°smail Cem Halavurt, a lawyer for the family in question, said they
were continuing their struggle to register the family in the Armenian
kindergarten.
"Now we are waiting for an official document saying, 'Yes, your
race code is '2,' you can register in an Armenian school,'" Halavurt
told Agos.
An official from the population administration told daily Radikal
that the practice was being conducted "to allow minority groups to
use their rights stemming the Lausanne Treaty."
As part of the practice, Greeks are classified as "1," Armenians
are coded as "2," while Jews are notated as "3" in the system. Other
non-Turkish groups are not coded, an official told daily Radikal.
The opposition parties' lawmakers harshly criticized the alleged
document.
"If this is true, it is fatal. It must be examined. I will bring
this to Parliament's agenda," Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy head of the
main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told the Hurriyet
Daily News.
Altan Tan, a deputy of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), stated
that there had long been such allegations but that they were always
denied by the authorities. Tan urged Interior Minister Muammer Guler
to make a statement on the issue.
"If there is such a thing going on, it is a big disaster. The fact that
the state is illegally profiling its own citizens based on ethnicity
and religion, and doing this secretly, is a big catastrophe," Tan said.
August/02/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-interior-ministry-confirms-race-codes-for-minorities.aspx?pageID=238&nID=51898&NewsCatID=339
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 2 2013
ISTANBUL - Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey's Interior Ministry has confirmed that minorities in the country
are given codes depending on which community they belong to and that
such information is sent to the Education Ministry, less than a week
after the categorization system was revealed by weekly Agos.
"Minority citizens' race status is given to the Education Ministry
depending on the nationality or race information taken from the state
register of the Ottoman period," the ministry said in a statement
that was sent to the Armenian-Turkish weekly on Aug. 1. The statement
also said contemporary state registers did not record any information
about the race or sect of citizens.
"There are no terms of race, breed, or sect in the state registers,"
said the statement sent to Agos.
Minority citizens' race status is taken from their nationality or race
information during Ottoman times and sent to the Education Ministry,
according to the 40th and 41st articles of the Lausanne Treaty, which
was signed between Turkey and Western countries in 1923 and presaged
the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
In Turkey, only minority communities' members can register their
children at minority schools, according to the Lausanne Treaty,
said the statement.
"Depending on the citizens' demands, religions such as Islam,
Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism or
Zoroastrianism can be recorded in the state family register, according
to the 2nd and 35th articles of Law No. 5490," the statement added.
The debate over the "race codes" was raised on Aug. 1 after Agos
reported an official document penned by the Istanbul Provincial
Education Directorate, revealing that Turkey's population
administration system had been recording citizens who have Armenian,
Jewish or Anatolian Greek (Rum) origins with secret "race codes."
"Citizens with Armenian origins are coded with '2,'" Agos said in
its lead story on Aug. 1.
The secret coding system emerged when a Turkish citizen of Armenian
origin attempted to register her child at an Armenian kindergarten
only to be told by the school to prove that she has the "2 code."
A document sent from the Istanbul Provincial Education Directorate to
the Å~^iÅ~_li District National Education office stated that "since
1923, the secret code of Armenians is '2' on identity registration
certificates," according to Agos.
"Since 1923, identity registration certificates have had a secret
'race code,'" the document added.
Ä°smail Cem Halavurt, a lawyer for the family in question, said they
were continuing their struggle to register the family in the Armenian
kindergarten.
"Now we are waiting for an official document saying, 'Yes, your
race code is '2,' you can register in an Armenian school,'" Halavurt
told Agos.
An official from the population administration told daily Radikal
that the practice was being conducted "to allow minority groups to
use their rights stemming the Lausanne Treaty."
As part of the practice, Greeks are classified as "1," Armenians
are coded as "2," while Jews are notated as "3" in the system. Other
non-Turkish groups are not coded, an official told daily Radikal.
The opposition parties' lawmakers harshly criticized the alleged
document.
"If this is true, it is fatal. It must be examined. I will bring
this to Parliament's agenda," Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy head of the
main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told the Hurriyet
Daily News.
Altan Tan, a deputy of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), stated
that there had long been such allegations but that they were always
denied by the authorities. Tan urged Interior Minister Muammer Guler
to make a statement on the issue.
"If there is such a thing going on, it is a big disaster. The fact that
the state is illegally profiling its own citizens based on ethnicity
and religion, and doing this secretly, is a big catastrophe," Tan said.
August/02/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-interior-ministry-confirms-race-codes-for-minorities.aspx?pageID=238&nID=51898&NewsCatID=339
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress