KURDISH IDENTITY IS DENIED IN TURKISH CONSTITUTION
By Dr Rebwar Fatah
Kurdish Media, UK
July 3 2006
Levant 1100 A.D., showing the Indo-European language areas before
arriving Turkic tribes
The first article of this series about Turkish constitution "Don’t
judge Turkish constitution by its European cover", looked at the impact
of the Turkish constitution on the Kurdish people and their homeland,
Kurdistan. This article, however, looks at the deliberate denial of
the Kurdish identity by the Turkish constitution.
It could be said that fundamentally Turkey is an unstable country.
Formally the homeland of Kurds, Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians,
Turkey has been successful in establishing itself through various
forms of genocide to coerce ethnic groups in favour of Turks.
In this article, I shall deal with what might be considered as Kurdish
identity in the Turkish constitution.
A third of Turkey’s population have Kurdish blood. These Kurds speak
Kurdish and occupy vast areas of ‘Kurdistan’ – what has always been
their homeland but cannot be found in the Turkish Constitution.
The fear and hatred of the Kurds which appears in the Turkish
constitution makes it one of the most racist official documents found
anywhere in Europe. In fact, it doesn’t even reach the standard of
Saddam Hussein’s constitution, which clearly identified "Kurds" and
the "Kurdish language". In spite of this, Saddam is under trial for
crimes against humanity. Where does this position the Turkish state?
Turkish fear is understandable. What is today termed "Turkey" covers
huge areas of Kurdistan, and Turks know very well that sooner or
later this will be challenged. No one can put the fear of Turks
better than their father, Ataturk, who realised what a Kurdish state
meant. Ataturk stated:
"If one wanted to draw a border separating the Kurds, one would have to
devastate Turkey. There would have to be a border that went as far as,
say, Erzurum, Erzincan, Sivas or Harput. Indeed, one must not forget
the Kurdish tribes in the deserts of Konya."
At the beginning, Mustafa Kemal was careful not to mention the Turkish
state. Instead, he stressed either the fraternity between the Kurds
and Turks, or the Ottoman nation in conflict with foreign occupational
forces. When Mustafa Kemal first began to form the Turkish-nation
state, it was not clear what constituted a Turk.
Indeed, in appealing for Islamic unity against the ‘Christian
invaders’, Ismet (Inonu) – Ataturk’s famous lieutenant and eventual
successor- initially spoke of the new state as being a "homeland for
Kurds and Turks".
As Turkey’s commercial and NATO partner, the USA is in full support
of Turkey and does not care for Kurdish or other ethnic group’s
rights. The American leadership demonstrates trivial knowledge of
Kurds, despite partnering with or using Kurds in the past, such as
during the last Gulf War, or even working with them up to now in the
Iraqi government. In his recent visit to America, the president of
Kurdistan dressed up, as is his usual habit, in Kurdish costume. When
President Bush welcomed him in the White House, he showed his support
for the Kurdish dress and stated that the President of Kurdistan
could not wear Kurdish costume during Saddam’s era. The President did
not know that Saddam frequently dressed in Kurdish costume. Saddam,
unlike Turkey, never denied the existence of Kurds, Kurdish language
or Kurdish homeland, Kurdistan.
However, the EU accepts the Turkish constitution and regard Turkey as
a democratic state. Sadly, when attempt to show Turkey the way, the
EU does not pull Turkey’s head out of the sand to show it the light.
Rather, the EU puts its head in the sand and attempts to lead Turkey
in the dark. The blind cannot lead the blind. Turkey is blind by
hatred and fear of Kurds. What is the EU’s fear?
Anything that is "Kurdish" in Turkey is "separatist" and what is
"separatist" by Turkish definition is "terrorist". Being Kurdish means
one is "separatist" under Article 216 of the new Turkish Penal Code.
Let us accept the official Turkish policy on Kurds: Kurds are
terrorists. But nothing stops Turkey in constituting a civilised
constitution. But the constitution, I suggest, is a recipe for
preparing terrorism.
The Turkish constitution does not mention the Kurdish language at
all. Article 3 states:
"The Turkish state, with its territory and nation, is an indivisible
entity. Its language is Turkish."
Article 42 elaborates this further:
"No other language than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue
to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education.
Foreign languages to be taught in institutions of training and
education and the rules to be followed by schools conducting training
and education in a foreign language shall be determined by law. The
provisions of international treaties are reserved."
By contrast, Saddam Hussein’s constitution (of 1990) stipulates the
Kurdish language. Article 7 [Languages] of the Iraqi constitution
states:
(a) Arabic is the official language.
(b) The Kurdish language is official, besides Arabic, in the Kurdish
Region.
Article 42 of Turkish constitution ensures that Kurdish is not taught
as the mother tongue. Kurds are brought up only with the Turkish
language, ensuring linguistic genocide. Article 42 states:
"No language other than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue
to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education."
There are a number of Articles in the Turkish Penal Code that
undermines the Kurdish language. For example, the use of any language
but Turkish for political speeches remains prohibited under Law No.
2820 on Political Parties. As a result, speaking in Kurdish – even
a single word – at an official party functions or press conferences
is illegal.
The persistent denial of the existence of Kurds, Kurdish language and
Kurdish homeland Kurdistan has been done in a very clever, subtle way,
without mentioning any of these words. Throughout the constitution,
and also the penal code, the existence of Kurds are denied. This can
be seen in Article 66 (as amended on October 17, 2001):
"Everyone bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is
a Turk. The child of a Turkish father or a Turkish mother is a Turk."
This can be defined as "identity genocide": wiping Kurds from the
surface of earth. It is disturbing. No individual can be born from
Kurdish parents, even when they are born from Kurdish parents. They
immediately become Turkish by the magic of this article. This is a
clear denial of the existence of Kurds. Please note this article has
been amended to meet EU criteria, or more correctly, to fool naïve
EU politicians.
By contrast, Saddam Hussein’s constitution in Article 5 [Nationalities
or ethnicities] clearly states that Iraqi people constitutes of two
ethnic (nationality ie al-Qawmiya) Kurds and Arabs. It reads:
(b) The Iraqi People are composed of two principal ethnicities:
the Arab ethnicity and the Kurdish ethnicity.
Most importantly:
(c) This Constitution acknowledges the national rights of the Kurdish
People and the legitimate rights of all minorities within the Iraqi
unity.
It must be noted that the Iraqi constitution does not regard Kurds as
a minority. Saddam recognised Kurds as the partners of Arabs in Iraq.
If Turkey wants to join the civilised nation of states, it needs to
regard Kurds equal to Turks in Turkey. It needs to change the name of
the state, establish a Kurdistan region, parliament and government
in order to develop the north of Kurdistan. The EU, also, need to
promote and accept the Kurdistan parliament as part of the EU and
allow Kurdistan bloc to join the EU parliament.
My thanks to Chris Lacey.
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