29.05.2008 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the situation of Kurds in Western cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya and Mersin; resettlement to these cities (2006 - 2008) ("Situation of Kurds in western cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya and Mersin; resettlement to these cities (2006 - 2008) [TUR102822.E]") [ID 24252]

Document(s): Open document

13.03.2008 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds (compiled by Abubekir Saydam after dissolution of IMK) ("Informationsdienst, 19. Februar 2008 – 13. Maerz 2008, Nr. 01/2008") [ID 22684]

Document(s): Open document

10.05.2007 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Legislators approve constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for Kurdish politicians to enter parliament ("Turkey Passes Amendment Seen As Curbing Kurdish Votes") [ID 19894]

Document(s): Open document

06.02.2007 - Source: Guardian

Current developments in Kurdish questions (PKK in Northern Iraq; worries over independent Kurdish state; impacts of Kirkuk referendum) ("Mark Tran: Turkey looks to US for support in Kurdish conflict") [ID 19680]

Document(s): Open document

10.10.2006 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Non-recognized minority: Kurds (history of Kurds; around 15 million Kurds in the country) ("A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation") [ID 18252]

"The Kurds are an ethno-linguistic group inhabiting a mountainous region of the northern Middle East (including northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, northeastern Syria, and southeastern Turkey), collectively referred to as “Kurdistan.” The Kurds consider themselves the descendants of the Hurrians who inhabited these mountains in the third, second, and first millenniums BCE as well as of the Indo-Europeans who flooded the area in the first millennium BCE. From the fourth century BCE until the fourth century CE, the Kurds passed under the sway of the Macedonians, the Parthians, the Sassanids, and the Romans. The last major Kurdish dynasty fell in 380 CE while smaller Kurdish principalities survived to become medieval Kurdish dynasties well into the flourishing period of the 12th century. The invasion of the Mongols followed by that of the Safavid and Ottoman empires led to waves of destruction of Kurdish settlements and deportations. The very last autonomous Kurdish principalities disappeared in 1867. It was in response to these systematic and ongoing devastations that Kurdish nationalism in Turkey was born. The Treaty of Sèvres, signed on 10 August 1921, anticipated an independent Kurdish state to cover large portions of the former Ottoman Kurdistan, yet was abandoned when France and Britain divided up Ottoman Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq and formalized this division in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Today, nearly half of the Kurds live in Turkey where, numbering ca. 15 million, they represent about 20% of the country’s total population. They are predominantly found in southeastern Turkey, but there is also a prominent Kurdish population in central Anatolia, to the west of Lake Tuz and in districts like Allaca, Çiçekdaðý, Yerköy, Emirdað, Çankýrý, and Zile. Many Kurds also live in big cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, and Adana. The Kurds speak the Kurdish language, which is comprised of two major dialects and several sub-dialects. The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, while a significant minority are Alevis and other Shia Muslims."

Document(s): Report
Press Release

10.10.2006 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

In 2006, police continues to intervene in many of the demonstrations and open-air meetings organized by Kurdish activists ("A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation") [ID 18275]

"Assembly in Turkey is regulated by the Law on Assemblies, Meetings, and Demonstrations, which was amended in August 2003 to decrease various restrictions on public demonstrations. Yet, in 2006, the concern remains that police continues to intervene in many of the demonstrations and open-air meetings organized by Kurdish activists, students, trade unionists, human rights groups or left-wing groups. Excessive security measures and the negative attitudes of the police toward demonstrators have led to tensions, which not unusually end up with the prosecution of activists for peaceful assembly."

Document(s): Report
Press Release

26.09.2006 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Over 50 Kurdish mayors went on trial on charges of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization for their efforts to keep a Kurdish television station on the air in Denmark ("Turkey Begins Trial Of Kurdish Mayors") [ID 17731]

Document(s): Open document

29.05.2006 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Despite some reforms government lacks necessary strategy to solve Kurdish question ("Türkei; Zur aktuellen Situation – Mai 2006") [ID 19120]

"Trotz des Erlasses einiger Reformen fehlt es der Regierung an der notwendigen Strategie zur Lösung der Kurdenfrage. Die Lösung der Probleme der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung und der kulturellen Rechte in den Kurdengebieten sind bis jetzt nicht ausreichend in Angriff genommen worden. Politische Gespräche mit den Kurden im eigenen Land bleiben schwierig. Bisher ist es der legalen kurdischen Bewegung, die sich in der DTP (Demokratische-Gesellschaft-Partei) zusammengeschlossen hat, nicht gelungen, sich klar von Öcalans PKK (Kurdische Arbeiterpartei) zu distanzieren. Die DTP ihrerseits kritisiert die Regierung, weil diese bisher keinen Versuch unternommen habe, um die Probleme durch einen gesellschaftlichen Dialog zu lösen."

Document(s): Open document

10.2005 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

Report on the status of the Kurdish minority ("Country Report - October 2005") [#40563],  [ID 14151]

"6.208 As noted in the USSD 2004:

“Citizens of Kurdish origin constitute a large ethnic and linguistic group. Millions of the country’s citizens identified themselves as Kurds and spoke Kurdish. Kurds who publicly or politically asserted their Kurdish ethnic identity or publicly espoused using Kurdish in the public domain risked public censure, harassment, or prosecution.” [5c] (Section 5)

6.209 As outlined by the Council of Europe European Commission against Racism and Intolerance in its ‘Third report on Turkey - Adopted on 25 June 2004 and made public on 15 February 2005’:

“According to estimates, there are between twelve and fifteen million Kurds living in Turkey. There are no official statistics as national censuses do not take account of people’s ethnic origins. The Kurds live mainly in the South-East, although many of them have left the region as part of the drift to the towns and also because of the armed conflict that went on for several years between the authorities and the PKK.” [76] (p20)

6.210 The ECRI report also stated:

“ECRI is pleased to note that the constitutional and legislative changes in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms should help to give the Kurds greater freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association. It notes, however, that in the case of the Kurds, such freedoms are still severely curtailed, especially in practice. ECRI notes in particular reports that Kurdish students have been arrested and/or expelled from university for having signed petitions or demonstrated in support of the teaching of Kurdish in universities…In some cases, however, persons who have expressed their Kurdish identity by peaceful means have been acquitted. ECRI hopes that the new laws will pave the way for a rapid improvement in this area. It notes that parents are now permitted by law to give their children Kurdish first names, even though a circular prohibits them from choosing names incorporating the letters Q, W or X, which exist in the Kurdish language but not in the Turkish alphabet.” [76] (p22)

6.211 The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2002 estimated that there were 13 million Kurds in Turkey. [2a] (p7) It also stated that “The great majority of the Kurdish population speaks Kurmanji, while Zaza, which is unintelligible to Kurmanji speakers, is spoken in the provinces of Tunceli, Elaziğ, Diyarbakır, Bingöl and Şanliurfa. Most of the Kurdish population is Sunni Muslim.” [2a] (p124)

6.212 The Netherlands report 2002 also observed that:

“The government in Turkey does not persecute Kurds solely because they are Kurds. This would, moreover, be incompatible with the abovementioned concept of the state, according to which a person’s ethnic origins do not matter as long as they comply with the principles of the Turkish Republic. All Turkish citizens (including the Kurds) thus also have equal access to public institutions such as health care and authorities responsible for issuing official documents.” [2a] (p126)"

Document(s): Open document

25.07.2005 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 244-245, 24. Juni 2005 – 25. Juli 2005") [#34969],  [ID 14152]

Document(s): Open document

23.06.2005 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 242-243, 28. Mai 2005 – 23. Juni 2005") [#34850],  [ID 14153]

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

Release of Kurdish deputies ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31987],  [ID 14154]

"[...]4.52 The Prime Ministers website (accessed August 2003) reported that in line with the fifth reform package (passed in January 2003) the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) approved the application made by four former deputies of the defunct pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) for a retrial. The deputies (Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan) had applied to the European Court challenging their 1994 conviction for aiding and abetting members of the PKK terrorist organisation. The European Court decided that the former deputies had not been given a fair trial in the Turkish court. [36b]
4.53 On 21 April 2004 the BBC reported that the outcome of the retrial was that the four deputies had to remain in prison. [66w] An Amnesty International Press Release dated 21 April 2004 reported that “Amnesty International is shocked by the decision to prolong the imprisonment of Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan. As prisoners of conscience, they should be released immediately and without condition.” [12h] (p1)
4.54 On 7 June 2004 the BBC reported that a Turkish prosecutor had called for the 15-year jail sentence for the four Kurdish deputies to be overturned. The prosecutor stated that the conviction should be quashed because the witnesses called to give evidence in the original trial had not been called for the re-trial. [66y]
4.55 An article in The Independent on 10 June 2004 reported that on the 9 June 2004 the four Kurdish Deputies were freed from prison. The newspaper reported that “Hundreds of supporters sang, performed Kurdish folk dances, cheered and hurled flowers at the four as they left Ulcunlar prison in Ankara after an appeals court ordered their release.” [44c]
4.56 On 14 July 2004 it was reported by the BBC that a Turkish court had ordered a retrial for the four Kurdish former MPs, who were freed after a decade of imprisonment. “The court said the four did not receive a fair hearing at their original trial in 1994 when they faced charges of collaborating with Kurdish rebels…No date has yet been set for the new trial. Earlier this week, police pressed for new charges to be brought against the four for making separatist speeches at rallies in south-eastern Turkey last month.“ [66ac]
4.57 On 22 October 2004 the BBC reported that Kurdish activist Leyla Zana had announced plans to set up a new political party in Turkey, as she faces a retrial for alleged separatist links. The former MPs imprisoned with Mrs Zana were with her as she made the announcement in the Turkish capital, Ankara…After the announcement, Mrs Zana went to court for a retrial on the charges for which she was originally imprisoned - alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which waged a bloody struggle for autonomy during the 1990s.“ [66ad]
4.58 On 7 January 2005 the Anatolia news agency reported: “Former DEP deputies Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicel and Orhan Dogan, who have started up the Democratic Society Movement, together with former chairman of HADEP [People's Democracy Party] Murat Bozlak and DEHAP [Democratic People's Party] Chairman Tuncer Bakirhan, attended the first "of the movement's Istanbul programme of meetings to bring together intellectuals and NGOs as well as consult the people" at the Taksim Hill Hotel. Reading out a prepared press statement before the meeting Orhan Dogan maintained that huge changes and transformations were taking place in all aspects of life, and that Turkey was not separate from this process of change.” [30f] [...]"

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2005 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Written statement submitted by the Federation of Associations for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights on the human rights situation of the Kurds in Turkey ("Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world E/CN.4/2005/NGO/294") [#30382],  [ID 14156]

Document(s): Open document

22.02.2005 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 240-241, 24. Januar 2005 – 22. Februar 2005") [#30902],  [ID 14158]

Document(s): Open document

23.01.2005 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 238-239, 23. Dezember 2004 – 23. Januar 2004") [#30903],  [ID 14160]

Document(s): Open document

20.01.2005 - Source: BBC News

Dutch appeals court ruled that a suspected Kurdish woman militant cannot be extradited to Turkey; the court bases the decision on it's opinion that she has a heightened risk of being tortured during her detention in Turkey ("Court backs Kurd extradition ban") [#28416],  [ID 14161]

Document(s): Open document

10.07.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 224-225, 16. Juni 2004 – 10. Juli 2004") [#24594],  [ID 14162]

Document(s): Open document

15.06.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 222-223, 21. Mai 2004 – 15. Juni 2004") [#24593],  [ID 14163]

Document(s): Open document

20.05.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 220-221, 21. April 2004 – 20. Mai 2004") [#24591],  [ID 14165]

Document(s): Open document

12.05.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Estimated 14,000 Turkish Kurds living in Mahmour refugee camp in Iraq reluctant to return home ("Turkish Kurds at Mahmour camp reluctant to return") [#22159],  [ID 14166]

Document(s): Open document

13.03.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 216-217, 24. Februar 2004 – 13. März 2004") [#24589],  [ID 14167]

Document(s): Open document

23.02.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst, Nr 214-215, 04. Februar 2004 – 23. Februar 2004") [#24588],  [ID 14168]

Document(s): Open document

03.02.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst Nr. 212-213, 16. Januar 2004 – 03. Februar 2004") [#24587],  [ID 14169]

Document(s): Open document

15.01.2004 - Source: Internationales Zentrum für die Menschenrechte der Kurden

Periodical press archive on the situation of Kurds in Turkey ("Menschenrechtsinformationsdienst Nr. 210-211, 17.12.2003 – 15.01.2004") [#18839],  [ID 14170]

Document(s): Open document