Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
April 27 2005
Europe vs Turkey
By Adil Al-Baghdadi
Turkey’s EU bid has hit another snag with President Chirac’s
contention that `they’, the Turks, have different traditions to
Europeans and said Turkey has to do 15-20 years of work until it can
present itself as European.
The French President was quoted as saying: `Whether or not Turkey
is European or Muslim does not matter and it depends on Ankara to do
what is necessary to become more European as current life styles and
values in Turkey are different from those of the Europeans’.
It seems Turkey wanted to convince the world that it has changed its
ways by merely saying yes and doing no to EU demands.
A look at some of the European ways of dealing with things and the
way Turkey behaves may shed light on how much it has to do to become
a true European state:
In Europe anyone can proclaim their ethnicity without fear and
without being intimidated or discrimination.
In Turkey everyone is Turkish and any suggestion of being a citizen
of Turkey from a different ethnic group is viewed with suspicion and
is liable for prosecution
In Europe anyone cam mock political or military leaders and vilify
them in cartoons, works of art, political satire and in songs.
In Turkey political figures can sue anyone who depict them in
cartoons and its absolutely forbidden to vilify anyone in the
military establishment and anyone defies this will end up in prison.
In Europe anyone can wrap themselves or burn any flag if they so wish
without fear of prosecution.
In Turkey all people are allowed to wrap themselves with only Turkish
flag and anyone who burns the flag even as young as 10 years of age
will be tried and sentenced.
In Europe anyone and any group can distribute leaflets in towns,
cities, shopping centres and high roads without any fear of
prosecution provided that the content does not incite people for
violence or racially motivated.
In Turkey those who distribute leaflets calling for human rights can
expect no protection and may be lynched by a mob and then prosecuted
and end up in prison.
In Europe Times Atlas can be bought off the shelf.
In Turkey Times Atlas is banned as it contains in its index a
geographical designation of the region Kurdistan.
In Europe anyone can publish and print any material in any language
as long as the content is not racist, derogatory or contains
offensive remarks against any ethnic race and does not encourage
violence against others
In Turkey no one is allowed to publish anything without official
permission and racist content, derogatory and offensive remarks are
normally allowed against Kurds.
In Europe no one is allowed to incite people to commit violence
In Turkey no one is allowed to incite people to commit violence only
against Kurds. (Turkish general staff issued a statement calling
Kurds so-called citizens)
In Europe any deliberate killing by the police will result in public
inquiry, suspension and prosecution of the policeman involved and
then will be followed by apology and compensation.
In Turkey policemen can kill 12 year old child and his father and
only get removed from their local station and reinstated to full duty
in different region.
In Europe the killing of a child with 14 bullets to his frail body by
four policemen is thoroughly examined by the media and investigated
by judiciary and parliament and result in many resignations from top
government posts to lower ranks within the police station in
question.
In Turkey the killing of an innocent child of 14 years of age is
first justified and gets reported as a killing of a terrorist, then
only questioned when a global news wire reports the killing as a
mistake by the police force.
The killing is then gets 50/50 reaction, the first fifty condemns the
killing while the other supports the action by police, and there will
be no public inquiry or debate, no prosecution for the culprits, no
resignation from any level within the government.
In Europe the mayor of the region where the unfortunate killing took
place condemns the action, apologizes for the family and asks for
culprit policemen to face trials.
In Turkey the governor of the Kurdish region where the boy and his
father were killed applauds the action by police and issues three
statements justifying the killing and calls the victims terrorists.
In Europe taking a course in any language is as easy as taking a bus
ride.
In Turkey taking a course in any language is as easy as taking a bus
ride only if the language chosen is Kurdish, where applicants would
undergo different lines of questioning and are handed application
forms asking them about motives for choosing the language and any
political affiliation.
In Europe mayhem against the Armenians in the dying days of Ottoman
Empire in which 1,5m perished is recognized as genocide.
In Turkey the events between the years of 1915-1918, which saw the
complete annihilation of the whole population of Armenian regions of
Anatolia, are called incidents.
No wonder Turkey still has to do a lot of home work and sole
searching in order to get any where near European norms and
standards.