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ANKARA: EU Calls On Ankara To Take Concrete Steps On Minority Rights

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  • ANKARA: EU Calls On Ankara To Take Concrete Steps On Minority Rights

    EU CALLS ON ANKARA TO TAKE CONCRETE STEPS ON MINORITY RIGHTS
    Senem Caglayan

    The New Anatolian, Turkey
    Nov 5 2006

    Turkey has made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and
    promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with
    international standards, the European Union said in the progress report
    urging Ankara to take concrete and constructive steps in the issue.

    In the draft report obtained by The New Anatolian, freedom of religion,
    minority rights and their protection is the main areas of concern.

    On the issue of freedom of religion, according to the progress report,
    although freedom of worship continues to be generally respected,
    no progress was reported with regard to difficulties encountered by
    non-Muslim religious communities.

    Stressing that restrictions on the training of clergy and on
    foreign clergy to work in Turkey remain, the reports said, "Turkish
    legislation does not provide private higher religious education for
    these communities," and therefore urged the reopening of the Greek
    Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) seminary and the recognition of the
    "ecumenical" status of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch.

    There have been no developments made in relation to the situation
    of the Alevis and they face difficulties for opening their places
    of worship (Cem houses), it was said in the report, urging Ankara
    to recognize Cem houses and give funding for them. Furthermore, the
    Union also criticized the compulsory religious instruction given to
    Alevi children in schools.

    Another area of concern stated in the progress report is that
    although the mandatory indication of religious affiliation in some
    personal documents such as ID-cards was abolished in April 2006, such
    documents still include information on religion, which according to
    the EU leaves open the potential of discriminatory practices.

    Furthermore on freedom of religion, Brussels called on Turkey to give
    access to legal personality to non-Muslin religious minorities and
    abolish their restricted property rights.

    Call for more Kurdish language broadcasting, education

    On the issue of cultural rights of Kurds, the EU called on Turkey to
    do more to ensure more broadcasting and education in Kurdish language.

    Stressing that permission was granted to two local TV channels in
    Diyarbakir and to one radio in Sanliurfa to broadcast in Kurdish,
    the Union expressed criticism on the time restrictions, the presence
    of subtitles or translations in Turkish and the absence of educational
    programs teaching the Kurdish language. Stating that the Turkish Public
    Television (TRT) has continued broadcasting in five languages including
    Kurdish, the Union expressed concern over the limited duration and
    scope of TRT's broadcasts, adding that no private broadcaster at
    national level has applied for broadcasting in languages other than
    Turkish since the enactment of the 2004 legislation.

    The Union also urged Ankara to do more in education in Kurdish saying,
    "Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot learn their mother
    tongue in the Turkish public schooling system. As concerns Kurdish
    all private courses were also closed down in 2004.

    Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn Kurdish today in the
    public or private schooling system. Furthermore, there are no measures
    taken to facilitate access to public services for those who do not
    speak Turkish."

    Touching on the overall record of Turkey in the minority rights, the
    EU described it as "unchanged" and urged Ankara to determine other
    minorities in Turkey except the Jews, Armenians and Greeks who were
    given the status of minorities with the Treaty of Lausanne.

    "The February 2005 visit of the OSCE High Commissioner on National
    Minorities (HCNM) to Ankara has not been followed up and no progress
    has been made in starting a dialogue on the situation of national
    minorities in Turkey," said the report urging Ankara to include
    relevant areas such as minority education, languages, the participation
    of minorities in the public life and broadcasting in minority languages
    to facilitate Turkey's further alignment with international standards
    and best practice in EU member states to ensure cultural diversity
    and to promote respect for and protection of minorities.
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