Human+Rights+Council-Turkey

__Country Background Information__
1. Government Type: Republican Parliamentary Democracy 2. The types of ideological leanings that influence Turkey's government: Turkey's government is constantly fighting Terrorism through the PKK and other such organizations. Turkey is also a crossroads for western and eastern train of thought, which collide here in Turkey. 3. Domestic issues in Turkey that might influence their foreign policy: the Kurdish people 4. Major events in Turkey's history: 1923- the collapse of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire and the founding of the Republic of Turkey 5. Ethnic Groups: Turkish, Kurdish, Circassians, Laz, Greeks, and Armenians. Religions: Muslim 99%, Christian, Bahai, and Jewish Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Zaza, Arabic, Armenian, Greek 6. Location: Eastern Mediterranean. Located on two continents: Europe and Asia. The European part of Turkey is called Thrace, while the Asian part is called Anatolia (or Asia Minor). Geography affects political relationships: Turkey is located next to Greece and Armenia, who are Turkey's enemies. 7. Countries that share a border with Turkey: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, and Bulgaria. 8. Turkey's allies: USA, Central Europe, Germany, Italy, France 9. Enemies of Turkey: Greece, Cyprus, Kurdish people, Armenia(ns) 10. Characteristics of Turkey's Economy: Capitalistic 11. Turkey's GDP: $667.7 billion (2007 est.) 12. UN membership: October 24,1945 13. Intergovernmental Organizations outside the UN: European Space Agency, International Monetary Fund, The World Bank 14. Regional Organizations outside of the UN: NATO 15. Trade Organizations or Agreements: WTO, ECO, ICC

==__Permanent Mission of Turkey__== Permanent mission to the UN is at this [|site]. This excerpt from Turkey's website at the UN, stating the mission of Turkey in the UN:

Turkey is a one of the 50 founding members of the United Nations. Turkey signed the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 in San Francisco and through the years, became a member of almost all specialized agencies and other bodies within the UN system. Turkey maintains Permanent Delegations at the UN Headquarters in New York, at the UN Offices in Geneva and Vienna, and at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. Turkish Ambassadors in Rome and Kenya serve as Permanent Representatives to the FAO in Rome and UN HABITAT in Nairobi. Turkey makes increasing amounts of voluntary contributions to the UN funds, programmes and agencies, as well as other relevant organizations. Some among those are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNIDO Industrial Development Fund, UN Emergency Response Fund (CERF), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Peace Building Fund. As in each country where the UN has a representation, Turkey hosts a UN Country Team. Below is the list of the UN specialized agencies represented in the UN Country Team in Turkey. In addition, International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and World Health Organization (WHO) have offices in Turkey.
 * 1) UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
 * 2) International Labor Organization (ILO)
 * 3) Regional Information Network (IRIN)
 * 4) UN Development Programme (UNDP)
 * 5) UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
 * 6) UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
 * 7) UN Information Center (UNIC)
 * 8) UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
 * 9) UN Industrial Development Fund (UNIDO)
 * 10) World Food Programme (WFP)

[|This] is the official UN site and fourm for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The [|UN Turkey Newsletter] contains a plethora of information on Turkey's view of the world in the UN. Below are several samples of Turkey-sponsored UN meetings and forums.

UNHCR Turkey and İstanbul Bilgi University organised a meeting on “Constitutions and Right to Asylum”
UNHCR Turkey organised a meeting on “Constitutions and Right to Asylum” in cooperation with, İstanbul Bilgi University Human Rights Law Research Center and İstanbul Bilgi Center for Migration Research. Academics, NGO representatives and the representatives of platforms involved in the constitutional debate participated at the meeting on 21 December.

After the opening speecehes of rector of Istanbul Bilgi University Prof. Dr. Aydın Uğur, dean of Faculty of Law Turgut Tarhanlı and UNHCR Turkey Represantative a.i. Roland Schilling, three presentations were given about the current situation of constitutional reform. Özdemir Özok from Turkish Bar Associations, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serap Yazıcı from İstanbul Bilgi University and Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kaboğlu from Marmara University expressed their opinions on how the constitution should be, the preparation process of the new constitution, their participation in the process and their objections. First session of the meeting focused on the question whether the new constitution will be limited to some reforms or a completely new constitution will be drafted.

The second session of the meeting started with the presentation of Prof. Dr. Kemal Kirişçi from Boğaziçi University on the historical development of asylum in Turkey. Turkey’s ongoing geographical limitation in the 1951 Geneva Convention was reminded and the consequences that stem from the limitation were discussed.

In the following session, participants emphasized the importance of recognition of right to asylum as a human right and the significance of including this right in the constitution. Amnesty International Turkey Representative and Hacettepe University member Dr. Levent Korkut stated that not including the right to asylum in the consttitution but protecting it by the international agreements would be legally rational but practically inapplicable. He added that the ideal way to protect the right to asylum would be through the constitution.

The United Nations Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls was sponsored in Istanbul with participation from several Turkish government officals.

__**UNJP Evaluation Meeting**__
United Nations Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls annual evaluation meeting was conducted in Istanbul at Hilton Hotel on 13 November 2007 with the participation of UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior Şahabettin Harputlu and Güler Sabancı, Chairperson of Sabancı Holding Board of Directors and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Sabancı Fundation.

The Joint programme is a unique effort to provide better opportunities for women and girls in Turkey by building service capacity for local governments and enhancing collaboration between NGOs and government authorities.

[|Here is a link] in which Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs speeks to the UN General Assembly in 2002.

This is a link to Turkey's voting records and speeches.

[|Here] is an UNPO link for the UN's Human Right's council with past votes. A very useful site for topics that may be raised. From the UNPO site is the most current resolution,from February 26th, 2008.

[|This website], which endorses Turkey as a Member of the United Nations Security Council for 2009-2010, outlines Turkey's stance on Human Rights.

[|This is the official site] of Turkey's Human Rights Watchdog Group, with information on current projects and reports.

[|The UNPO UPR website] represents many of the nationless people around the world, including the Kurds, Circassians, and other nationless peoples living in Turkey. Here are links to information for each of Turkey's "nationless" ethnic groups. -[|Circassians] -[|Kurds] -[|Laz] -[|Hamshenis]

Here is a site on [|Turkey's Linguistic and Ethnic Subdivisions]. There are little snippets of information on the bottom of the page for each ethnic group. -[|Turks] -[|Kurds] -[|Arabs] -[|Peoples from the Caucasus (Laz, Circassians, Abkhaz, etc.)] -[|Dönme] -[|Greeks] -[|Armenians] -[|Jews]

=UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations= 2006-07-14 The 24th session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations will take place from 31 July to 4 August 2006 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The main theme will be: Utilization of indigenous peoples' lands by non-indigenous authorities, groups or individuals for military purposes.

The Working Group invites Governments, indigenous peoples, the United Nations system and NGOs to provide in advance relevant information to contribute to the discussion on the main theme.

Call for contributions to the OHCHR draft publication on the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in relation to developments affecting their lands and natural resources (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2005/WP.1)

Governments, Indigenous Peoples and NGOs are invited to submit any contributions concerning best practices to govern the implementation of the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in relation to developments affecting their lands and natural resources.

Documentation: Provisional agenda (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2006/1)

Annotations to the provisional agenda (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2006/1/Add.1)

Report on the expert seminar on indigenous peoples permanent sovereignty over natural resources and their relationship to land (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2006/3)

This is a [|great] website, written by the state department giving a detailed and unbiased synopsis of Turkey's human rights violations. A great website to find out what other countries think of Turkey. Below is an excerpt outlining Turkey's human right's offenses in Indigenous peoples.

//National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities// // The Constitution provides a single nationality designation for all Turks and does not recognize ethnic groups as national, racial, or ethnic minorities. Citizens of Kurdish origin constituted 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 identity or publicly espoused using Kurdish in the public domain risked censure, harassment, or prosecution.// //While there were some improvements during the year, the Government maintained significant restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other ethnic minority languages in radio and television broadcasts and in publications (see Section 2.a.).// //During the year, the HRF recorded fewer complaints that authorities prevented parents from registering their children under traditional Kurdish names.// //During the year, private Kurdish language instruction courses were opened in Istanbul and six southeastern cities (Van, Batman, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Kiziltepe, and Adana) pursuant to legislation adopted in 2002. According to observers, officials had delayed the courses by raising bureaucratic obstacles. For example, authorities in Batman required the school to expand classroom doorframes by 5 centimeters, while authorities in Sanliurfa required the school to install a fire escape for its two-story building, even though many taller buildings in the area did not have fire escapes. Kurdish rights advocates said students enrolling in the courses were required to provide extensive application documents, including police records, that were not required for other courses. They maintained that the requirements intimidated prospective applicants, who feared police were keeping records on students taking the courses.// //No official estimate of the Romani population existed, but the population may be significant in regions near Bulgaria and Greece, and Roma were found in many cities throughout Anatolia. Human rights observers said many Roma did not disclose their ethnic identity for fear of discrimination. The law states that "nomadic Gypsies" are among the four categories of people not admissible as immigrants. // // In February, the Hurriyet newspaper's publication of a report that Sabiha Gokcen--an adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was the country's first female pilot--was of Armenian descent drew a number of racist public statements. The Turkish General Staff issued a statement criticizing the reports on Gokcen's Armenian ancestry as "a claim that abuses national values and feelings" while the Turkish Air Association called the report "an insult" to Gokcen and to Ataturk. //

Here is another excerpt from the sight, under the subtitle of **Freedom of Speech and Press** that outwardely shows the Turks dislike and even hatred of Cyproits and Armenians.

//a. Freedom of Speech and Press// //The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government continued to limit these freedoms in some cases.// //The Government, particularly the police and judiciary, limited freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws, including articles of the Penal Code prohibiting insults to the Government, the State, or the institutions and symbols of the Republic. Other laws, such as those governing the press and elections, also restrict speech. In September, Parliament adopted legislation prohibiting imams, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders from "reproaching or vilifying" the Government or the laws of the State while performing their duties (see Section 2.c.). The "reasoning" attached to the Penal Code states that persons could be found in violation for accepting payment from foreign sources for the purpose of conducting propaganda in favor of withdrawing troops from Cyprus or (quoting from the text of the "reasoning") "saying that Armenians were subject to a genocide at the end of the First World War." The reasoning is not law, but serves as guidance to judges and prosecutors on how to apply the law.//

And lastly, this little segment from the same subtitle;

// Authorities sometimes used forms of censorship against periodicals with pro-Kurdish or leftist content, particularly in the southeast. In January, Sinan Kutluk claimed police kidnapped him and threatened to kill him as he was distributing the leftist daily Ozgur Gundem in Adana. In June, a juvenile said plainclothes police beat him as he was distributing Ozgur Gundem in Van. Journalists practiced self-censorship.//

//While there were improvements during the year, the Government maintained significant restrictions on the use of Kurdish and other minority languages in radio and television broadcasts. In June, state television and radio began limited broadcasts in Kurdish and three other minority languages. RTUK regulations limited the minority-language broadcasts, including news and cultural programming, to 60 minutes per day, 5 hours per week on radio, and 45 minutes per day, 4 hours per week on television. The regulations also require that non Turkish radio programs be followed by the same program in Turkish and that non-Turkish television programs have Turkish subtitles. At year's end, local stations were prohibited from broadcasting similar non-Turkish programs pending the completion of a RTUK viewer-listener profile. // //In October, the Government's Human Rights Consultation Board issued a report, which found that legal restrictions on the use of minority languages violated the country's commitments under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty to provide Turkish nationals the right to use any language in the press, commerce, religion, public meetings, and private life without restriction. A number of Government officials harshly criticized the report and Ankara prosecutors opened an investigation against the report's principal authors. There were no developments in the investigation at year's end. // //In November, the High Court of Appeals reinstated a case against the teachers' union Egitim-Sen on charges stemming from an article in the union's statute supporting the rights of individuals to receive education in their mother tongue; t he case continued at year's end.// // While Kurdish-language audio cassettes and publications were available commercially, local authorities periodically prohibited specific cassettes or singers, particularly in the southeast. Prosecutors ordered the confiscation of numerous issues of leftist, Kurdish nationalist, and pro-PKK periodicals and prohibited several books on a range of topics. Police frequently raided the offices of such publications. // //The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however, the law authorizes RTUK to monitor Internet speech and to require Internet service providers to submit advance copies of pages to be posted online. The law also allows police to search and confiscate materials from Internet cafes to protect "national security, public order, health, and decency" or to prevent a crime. Police must obtain authorization from a judge or, in emergencies, the highest administrative authority before taking such action. // //The Government did not overtly restrict academic freedom; however, there was some self-censorship on sensitive topics.//

Dispite what Turkey admits, its human right's record is so bad that the [|EU] has refused to accept Turkey into the UN, one of the geounds being that it has too many violations. Dispite what Turkey admits, its human right's record is so bad that the EU has refused to accept Turkey into the UN, one of the geounds being that it has too many violations.

2006:
Overall Votes (94): Agree 28, Disagree 51, Abstain 12, Absent 3: 35.4% —Including All 174 Consensus Resolutions: 79.3% —Arms Control: 44.4%; Human Rights: 61.1%   ; Middle East: 4.5% Important Votes (13): Agree 4, Disagree 7, Abstain 1, Absent 1: 36.4% —Including the 11 Important Consensus Resolutions: 67.6%

Important Issues VOTES

1. U.S. Embargo of Cuba...................................................................Y 2. Human Rights in Uzbekistan .........................................................N  3. Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People..........Y 4. Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat ..............................Y 5. Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons .................................Y 6. Towards an Arms Trade Treaty .......................................................Y 7. Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices ..........Y 8. Combating Defamation of Religions .................................................Y 9. Human Rights in North Korea .........................................................Y 10. Human Rights in Belarus...............................................................Y 11. Human Rights in Iran.....................................................................X 12. International Trade and Development.............................................. A 13. Human Rights in Myanmar ............................................................Y KEY: Votes: Y=Yes, N=No, A=Abstain, X=Absent

2005:
Voting Coincidence Percentages

Overall Votes (90): Agree 27, Disagree 48, Abstain 10, Absent 5: 36.0% —Including All 183 Consensus Resolutions: 80.6% —Arms Control: 56.7%; Human Rights: 47.6% ; Middle East: 11.8%

Important Votes (11): Agree 3, Disagree 4, Abstain 2, Absent 2: 42.9% —Including the 10 Important Consensus Resolutions: 75.6%

Important Issues __VOTES__

1. U.S. Embargo of Cuba.....................................................................Y 2. Human Rights in Sudan...................................................................X  3. Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People............Y  4. Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat.................................Y 5. Compliance with Non-Proliferation Agreements ..................................Y 6. Follow-up to Nuclear Disarmament Obligations...................................N 7. Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices.............Y 8. Strengthening the Role of the United Nations in Elections....................Y 9. Human Rights in Iran........................................................................X  10. International Trade and Development................................................A 11. Unilateral Economic Measures........................................................A KEY: Votes: Y=Yes, N=No, A=Abstain, X=Absent

2004:
Voting Coincidence Percentages

Overall Votes (79): Agree 24, Disagree 45, Abstain 5, Absent 5: 34.8% —Including All 213 Consensus Resolutions: 83.3% —Arms Control: 36.4%; Human Rights: 66.7% ; Middle East: 11.1%

Important Votes (10): Agree 2, Disagree 6, Abstain 0, Absent 2: 25.0% —Including the 16 Important Consensus Resolutions: 74.0%

Important Issues __VOTES__

1. U.S. Embargo of Cuba.....................................................................Y 2. Human Rights in Sudan...................................................................X 3. Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People............Y 4. Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat.................................Y 5. Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty............................................................Y 6. Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices............Y 7. Elimination of all Forms of Religious Intolerance.................................Y 8. Enhancing the Role of Organizations to Promote Democracy..............Y  9. Human Rights in Iran.......................................................................X   10. International Trade and Development...............................................Y

=Turkey: Urge Visiting Sudanese Leader to End Atrocities= (New York, January 20, 2008) – When Sudanese President Omar El Bashir arrives in Ankara on January 21 for a state visit, the Turkish government should publicly urge him to end the ongoing atrocities in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today in a [|letter] to the Turkish government. “It’s surprising that the Turkish government has chosen to honor a foreign leader responsible for massive human rights violations,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Turkish authorities should affirm their commitment to human rights principles by calling on Bashir to end the atrocities in Darfur.”

This will be the Sudanese president’s first official visit to Turkey in more than two decades, and he will be greeted with a full military ceremony during the state visit.

Human Rights Watch called on the Turkish government to use the opportunity to press the Sudanese leader to end the atrocities and abuses continuing in Darfur. In particular, Turkish President Abdullah Gül should insist that Bashir immediately end direct or indiscriminate attacks on civilians, take effective steps to rein in and disarm the “Janjaweed” militia, and proactively facilitate rapid deployment of the hybrid peacekeeping force. Sudan’s president must also ensure those responsible for past and continuing crimes are brought to account.

Turkey's Position paper


 * Committee:** Human Rights Council
 * Topic:** The Rights of Indigenous Peoples
 * Country:** Turkey

We, as the Republic of Turkey, are eager to shed all religious and ethnic discrimination that are endemic to our world. Our country, which consists of many nationalities, supports the motions taken by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in apologizing to the ethnic Aborigines about the past suppression of their ethnicity. As stated in Rudd’s speech to the House of Representatives in Canberra on the 13 February 2008, “ There comes a time in the history of nations when their peoples must become fully reconciled to their past if they are to go forward with confidence to embrace their future.” As the Delegates of Turkey, we embrace Australia’s motives, and urge other such nations to follow Australia’s example, so that we may collectively make a large step for humanity and eliminate racial discrimination that is rampant in our world and promote racial tolerance. At the current rate of globalization, it is more important than ever to resolve our disputes with the races of the world, and move onward together in a cooperative world society.

Turkey has ratified numerous resolutions and conventions that promote the tolerance, assistance, and preserving of native and ethnic cultures. These include the //Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples//, and the //International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination//; of which was ratified on 13 October, 1972. From these ratifications, Turkey has established that it is eager to increase cooperation between its own ethnic peoples and ones that are not endemic to our country

The plight of ethnic peoples is serious, and needs immediate and evasive action. According to NVTC, the National Virtual Translation Center, which is located in Washington D.C. in the United States of America, 23% of all languages have less than 500,000 fluent speakers, and 3% of all languages have less than 10 fluent speakers. All in all, that means that 516 languages are “endangered”, and could become extinct by the end of the century. The majority of these languages are found in the highlands of New Guinea in Asia, and in Mesoamerican tribes in the Amazon Basin in South America. Without immediate action and assistance, their culture would be deprived of a major ethnic link that unites a people and keeps their ancient ways from disintegrating into nothingness.

One way Turkey aims to relieve the world’s discrimination of Indigenous peoples is by establishing communication and education centers in ethnically diverse areas that teach people about Indigenous peoples and their cultures. These centers could also serve to teach Indigenous peoples about the governing ethnicities. This helps to promote peace and mutual understanding between factions.

Turkey is committed, as a member of the United Nations, to promote racial diversity and tolerance throughout the world. The survival of these people depends on the action that we take today, and we must unite our efforts in order to save some of our world’s wonderful human history and culture. Without this, we would lose a valuable connection with our world, before the onslaught of modern technologies shrunk the world. Because of this, many cultures are in danger of dying out. As a large supporter of human rights, we urge the world to hear the plight of our fellow peoples and help relieve them of their burden.

Human Right Positions-Turkey
 * Human Rights in Uzbekistan-No
 * Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People-Yes
 * Human Rights in North Korea –Yes
 * Human Rights in Belarus-Yes
 * Human Rights in Iran-Yes
 * Human Rights in Myanmar-Yes
 * Committee on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People-Yes
 * Human Rights in Iran-Yes