MERCATOR :: News

October 2004

STILL CONSIDERABLE RESTRICTIONS FOR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN TURKEY, SAYS EU ACCESSION REPORT

October 2004 – The European Commission has made public its 2004 Regular Report on Turkey’s progress towards accession, dated 6 October (see also Mercator-Legislation’s News: November 2003). As a general conclusion, the report stresses that there are still “considerable restrictions”, in particular in the area of broadcasting and education in minority languages, while it also highlights that there has been important progress as regards the protection of cultural rights since 1999. The Constitution was amended to lift the ban on the use of Kurdish and other languages other than Turkish and legislative changes were introduced allowing for radio/TV broadcasting in, and teaching of, such languages, beginning in 2004 although on a restricted scale. The languages referred to are Kurdish, Circassian, Bosnian, Arabian, Armenian and Greek. In the case of Kurdish, the report points out that the authorities have shown greater tolerance towards its use and towards the expression of Kurdish culture in its different forms.

In the judiciary, efforts have been made to implement the political reforms introduced and to comply with international human rights conventions as well as with the standards of the European Court of Human Rights. Higher judicial bodies such as the Court of Cassation have delivered important judgements on the use of the Kurdish language, for instance overruling decisions which had banned the use of the language during campaigns for local elections, during a press conference (politicians were convicted in both cases), or on posters. However, there are still restrictions on the use of languages other than Turkish by political parties, says the report.

As concerns the area of broadcasting, the new legislative measure from January 2004 (replacing a regulation from 2002) was finally implemented in June, after some delay. Broadcasts in Bosnian, Arabic, Circassian and the Kurdish dialects of Kirmançi and Zaza are ongoing (see Mercator-Legislation’s News: June 2004). However, this implementation is still rather restrictive: only certain types of broadcasts allowed, strict time limits, strong conditions and requirements, such as to respect the principle of “the indivisible unity of the state”, etc. The Broadcasting Law (RTÜK Law) is still frequently invoked by RTÜK in order to impose heavy penalties, including the suspension of the broadcasting license. Despite having abandoned the State television monopoly and having created a strong regulatory body (RTÜK), its independence should be strengthened, according to the report.

Finally, in the field of education, the recent Regulation on the Teaching in Different Languages and Dialects Traditionally Used by Turkish Citizens in their Daily Lives, from December 2003, has allowed some improvement. Several Kurdish language schools recently opened in the Southeast of the country (and also in Istanbul), although they do not receive financial support from the state and there are restrictions concerning, in particular, the curriculum, the appointment of teachers, the timetable and the attendees.