Turkish Government Ratification of the European Council's Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities

Dear Madam / Sir:

As you know, the European Commission recently recommended that European Union leaders grant Turkey a start date for EU accession talks. We welcome Turkey's eventual entry into the European Union, yet are concerned the October 6, 2004 report by the Commission fails to acknowledge fundamental discriminatory laws and practices that continue to deny Kurds, and others in Turkey, basic human rights and freedoms.

We therefore urge you and your government to officially request that the Government of Turkey sign and ratify the European Council's Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities before formal accession talks begin. The 1995 Framework Convention requires signatory governments to advance the Convention's objectives through national legislation and policies. These include ensuring equality before the law, preserving and developing cultures, safeguarding identities, religions, minority languages and traditions. (Full text at: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm )

The European Commission report correctly acknowledges the urgent need to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Kurds displaced when their villages were destroyed. Yet it remains silent on the source of displacement -- a conflict between the Turkish military and Kurdish rebels started shortly after the nascent Turkish Republic instituted policies bent on forcible assimilation of Kurds and other minorities. Since 1984, almost 40,000 people have died as a result of this conflict.

Fundamental deficiencies in Turkey's legal and political structures should not be overlooked because, after 80 years, state TV has recently started broadcasting in Kurdish for one hour a week, or a few private schools are now allowed to teach Kurdish, and, after 10 years in jail, prominent Kurdish political prisoners are freed. Today, journalists, artists, rights activists and others are still routinely jailed for speech crimes. Kurdish-based political parties, NGOs and rights activists face constant legal harassment, and parents are still unable to register Kurdish names for their children.

As violence and resulting instability continue, we are concerned that the European Commission did not address demilitarization, including amnesty for militants, specific legal reforms to expand cultural and political rights, and economic investment in underdeveloped Kurdish provinces.

Europe's bloody history provides ample evidence that democratic multi-ethnic societies must codify respect for ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity in legal frameworks which enable all citizens to express, preserve and develop their identity. Legitimate Kurdish demands for human political, cultural, social and economic rights cannot be sidelined by reforms which serve primarily as public relations instruments. If left unresolved, the fundamental sources of Kurdish unrest will increasingly destabilize Turkey and its neighbors. Peaceful resolution of the Kurdish "question" is therefore essential to successful European integration.

Turkey's leaders have publicly pronounced their commitment to legal standards that underpin Europe's secular, democratic and multi-ethnic societies. Signature and ratification of this important European convention will firmly underscore that commitment and provide additional assurances that meaningful reforms will be adapted and implemented.