VI. DO PEOPLE WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES AS KURDS CONSTITUTE A MINORITY IN TURKEY?

The criteria for determining a minority are set forth as some or all of the following; i. religion, ii. language, iii. race or ethnic origin.24

Treaty of Lausanne dated July 24, 1923, which internationally and legally declares the existence of Turkish state, reserves the status of minority only for the country’s Greek and Armenian Christians and Jews. The British, who even could not envisage the establishment of a secular democratic republican state under the rule of law where each citizen irrespective of his/her language, religion and ethnic identity has equal rights and duties, insisted on offering minority status to non-Muslim ethnic groups to secure their rights. But the Jewish, in a display of their loyalty and desire to share the common destiny of Turkey,25 are the first community who waived their rights in Family Law enshrined for non-Muslim communities in Lausanne Treaty. The concept of minority within the Muslim population of Turkey is quite alien26 not only from the point of legal sense but also because of closely tied social structure as a result of living together for centuries without any discrimination. Thus, Kurds are the prime element of the Turkish state.

In Turkey there is no historical or social background to the division as Kurds and Turks on the basis of ethnicity. Having taken their part in the fight against Russian invasion and collaborating Armenians who committed atrocities in Eastern Anatolia in World War I27 and in the fight against occupation forces in the War of Independence, Kurds had become the prime element of the Republic of Turkey which does not seek racial background for citizenship. Republic of Turkey, as a successor state to the Ottoman Empire which had been inspired by the French system on public administration and administrative law,28 adopted a citizenship policy with no ethnic consideration. That policy does not have an oppressive nature. It allows cultural diversity, free expression of folklore and traditions, and communication in any language in daily life.29 Any arrangement that brings differing implementations of public services and state activities regarding any particular ethnic group which means to amend basic constitutional principles of Turkey will require a broad consensus on a democratic platform. In that case, it should be normal to exclude movements using violence and groups not taking clear stand against violent movements from taking part in that consensus.30 In any case, once such arrangement is put into effect, newer arrangements regarding other ethnic groups and subgroups might be needed. Then, it is quite likely that national integrity and unitary structure of the Turkish state will become diminished.31

24 Professor Dr. Hüseyin Pazarcı, Uluslararası Hukuk Dersleri 2. Kitap [Lectures on International Law Volume 2] (Ankara: Turhan Kitabevi, 1993), p. 168.

25 Avram Galante, Türkler ve Yahudiler [The Turks and the Jews] (İstanbul: 1947), p. 86, as quoted in Siren Bora, İzmir Yahudileri Tarihi 1908-1923 [The History of the Jews in Izmir Between 1908-1923] (İstanbul: Gözlem Gazetecilik Basın ve Yayın, 1995), p. 251.

26 Foundation for Middle East and Balkan Studies, Menace of the Post Cold War Period: A Case Study of PKK in Turkey, (İstanbul: 1994), p. 6. Nur Bilge Criss, "The Nature of PKK Terrorism in Turkey", Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 18 (1995), p. 24.

27 Stanford J. Shaw and Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey Vol. II (London: Cambridge University Press, 1979), pp. 314-317, as quoted in Armenian Allegations: Myth and Reality, A Handbook of Facts and Documents 2nd Edition compiled and edited by The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (Washington, D.C., 1987), p. 114; David McDowall, "Kürt Sorunu:..." [The Kurdish Question:...], p. 22; Tijen Yalgın Özok, Southeastern Anatolian Tribes During The Turkish National Struggle (Istanbul: Boğaziçi University, 1995), p. 18.

28 Professor Dr. Sait Güran, "Administrative Law" in Introduction to Turkish Law, p. 63. In the case of minorities, France seems less tolerant than Turkey. See "Muslim Europe", Newsweek, 29 May 1995.

29 Erciyes University, PKK Reality (Kayseri: Erciyes University Press, 1991), pp. 26-27; Criss, "The Nature of...", p. 24. Freedoms and restrictions on the subject will be expressed in the following chapters.

30 In Northern Ireland Sinn Fein’s vote comes from members, supporters, and sympathizers of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) which is less abhorrent in comparison with the PKK, and those who support violence are as guilty as those who perpetrate it. See Shane Kingston, "Terrorism, the Media, and the Northern Ireland Conflict", Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 18, Number 3 (July-September 1995), p. 227.

31 Gunter, The Kurds..., p. 53; Andrew Mango, Türkiye’nin Yeni Rolü [Turkey: The Challenge of a New Role] (Praeger Publishers, 1994/Ankara: Ümit Yayıncılık, 1995), p. 50; Criss, "The Nature of...", p. 25.