Forum for Stateless Nations and Other Minorities
eilian@talktalk.net Crypto Armenians in Turkey by Dr Surhan Cam In 1974, Hrant Dink ‘discovered’ a lost tribe of Armenians in Varto, Kurdistan. The tribe members did not know that they were Armenian. Nor did anyone else know it. They were mostly Alevi Muslims and spoke only Kurdish. Hrant taught Armenian to some of them and married to one of them. This was the first of such discoveries. But it was also the last one. Currently, we know very little about crypto Armenians. There is no reliable figure about the size of their population. Estimated numbers vary wildly, from few hundred thousand to millions. Not least for this reason, it is a politically challenging task to talk about crypto Armenians. The issue is perceived as ‘Pandora’s box’ by various commentators both in Armenian and Turkey. It is argued that crypto Armenians can be used by the Turkish government to undermine the credibility of, what the Turkish officials derogatively call, ‘genocide merchants’. It is feared that if a high number of crypto Armenians is reliably established, then the Turkish government would purport that ‘we did not exterminate them. They are living among us’. Arguably, these sorts of ploys would do no good for the Turkish government rather than undermining its own credibility further. However, the potential implications of such a debate for crypto Armenians are worth a careful examination. Some discussants expressed concerns over the possibility of a danger that this issue can be exaggerated by ‘fascistic forces’ in Turkey to use crypto Armenians as a scapegoat for the troubles of Turkey in political (and economic) terms. It would be unwise to underestimate such worries, provided that even some heavy-weight intellectuals within Turkey’s left-wing circles proactively take part in never-ending campaigns against ethnic and religious minorities such as Jewish, Kurdish, Alevi and Assyrian, as well as Armenian, communities. They propagate, for example, that such minority groups secretly retain the command of economic and political powers/affairs in Turkey, pretending to be Turks. Recently, there has also been an upward trend in nationalistic tides. Among others, especially three international events have much contributed to this. One is the recent outlawing of genocide denials in France. Turkish reaction went as far as freezing diplomatic ties with Paris in addition to discouraging domestic consumers from using French goods. Also, the departure of US troops from Iraq and the rise of tensions in Washington-Tehran relations over the Hormuz strait have reputedly boosted the geopolitical importance of Turkey’s cooperation with the West. These incidents are considered by hawkish intelligence and military personnel to be ‘an opportunity for freehand to vanquish rogue Kurds’: On new year’s eve, more than thirty Kurdish smugglers crossing Turkey-Iraq border were opened fire at and killed by the Turkish security forces with no warning or call for surrender. In doing so, the critics say, the Turkish state terrorised civilians in an attempt to deter Kurdish independence movements. No one has been held responsible for the ‘accident’ so far. In the light of these developments, some columnists postulated that the ruling AK Party is moving away from (mildly) Islamist tendencies to nationalism. However, such a conclusion reflects only one side of the coin. Paradoxically, there is also a widening understanding in Turkey that appreciates the importance of democracy and respect for human rights. When Abdullah Gul, the president of Turkey paid a first-ever visit to Armenia for a friendly football match between both countries in 2008, many commentators interpreted this as a manoeuvre to avert the recognition of genocide by the US Congress. Probably such scepticism was understandable to certain degree. However, there was also a deep-down wave sweeping across the country. This wave surfaced up during a historic demonstration in 2007 when hundreds of thousands of Turks took the streets in order to protest the killing of Hrant Dink. They chanted that ‘all we are Armenian, all we are Hrants’. Likewise, in a different setting, Tayip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister denounced the long history of assimilation policies in Turkey. And no less significantly, he had done this as part of the last election campaign with an accurate anticipation that such a strategy would increase his popularity among the electorate. After a landslide victory, he also apologised for the Dersim massacre that claimed the lives of thousands of Zazas in 1937/8. The Turkish premier makes no word of apology to Armenians. And chattering classes are not holding their breath for such a gesture given that the word ‘genocide’ is still a taboo in Turkey. However, a closer scrutiny of political events would further reveal the deep-down tide. There is a rise in what one might call ‘non-Turkist nationalisms’. As opposed to conventional nationalism, non-Turkist nationalists claim that there is a tension between Turkism and national interests. Intellectuals in this vein, for example, are of the view that it would be in Turkey’s best interest to face its history with downsides as well as upsides, like that of many other countries. Such interlockers argue that ‘we should start to talk about apologising to Armenians’. A leading columnist on this front recently contended that ‘regardless of what or how happened, millions of Armenians disappeared, and this disappearance per se amounts to genocide’. To the surprise of many observers, he was not arrested for his remark. Such commentators have also begun to criticise the official sentiment that accepting the genocide would trigger property/land claims by Armenians. They pragmatically underline potential opportunities for new investments by the Armenian Diaspora, especially in the economically deprived provinces of Eastern Anatolia. History is a burden on Turkey’s politics but the social realities of present times also add further layers. The issue of crypto Armenians raises questions about the fabric of ‘Turkish’ society. Kemalism takes pride in the inclusiveness of its mantra that ‘What happiness to the one who can say I am Turk’. The pride, however, has begun to give way to fear for not knowing who would or would not wish to disclaim Turkishness, once people are given the chance to opt out. It is virtually impossible to know even whether or not the Turks themselves would become a new minority group among the populaces. Most of the policy makers, however, appear to have made their mind that ‘genuinely Turkish people would become marginalised’. They also whisper about ‘the reversal of ethnic cleansing’ in the shape of the return of expats. Indeed, several thousand Assyrians, for example, have already returned in recent years. One of these returnees was quoted with large fonts in the headlines: ‘I am home!’ There is a need to promote an understanding that human rights and democracy are not just for the majority but for the minorities as well. This, inter alia, requires the scarping of Article 301 which arbitrarily criminalise intellectuals and journalist through a mischievous excuse of ‘insulting Turkishness’. The code essentially serves for muzzling up multi-culturalist voices. Other sorts of limitations on freedom of thought should also be abolished by the new constitution which is expected to replace the present one in 2012. Above all, the rights of minorities to exist without having to deny their identity can no longer be disputed. For this reason, it is essential that the Turkish government ensure ethnic and religious minorities that they would be secure when they live up to their own culture, language, religion or sects. Nevertheless, no one would remain grateful forever for not being killed for who they are. The Turkish state needs to fulfil its cultural responsibilities. To start with, the government officials should share ancestral information with the members of public other than keeping it behind closed doors. They ought to be transparent to people in terms of what they know about the ethnic backgrounds of local communities. Individuals should also be assisted to find out such information when it is not readily available. Moreover, populations need to be provided with financial and institutional support to practice their cultures. The government still fails, for example, to supply urban spaces to Alevi populations for their cemevi (worship houses). Christian communities feel lucky when they are simply allowed to use their own churches, let alone getting financial support for renovations or building new ones. As the centenary of 1915 tragedy draws closer, it is possible to work toward the beginning of a forward-looking era marked by trust-building initiatives and debunking of prejudices between Armenian and Turkish people. For example, Hrant Dink case which is one of the high profile lawsuits in Turkey can be used to foster the trust of public in judiciary system among both Armenians and Turks. The trial is now interwoven with an on-going war within the Turkish state through a series of court cases against some military coup plotters, far-right gangs and Mafia. The reason for this is because the murderer is believed to be part of nationalistic paramilitaries. All these legal investigations should immediately be finalised for justice. In addition, restrictions on Ottoman archives should be lifted for national and international researchers. In particular, Armenian government should capitalise on a recent call by the Turkish government to do this mutually as well as trying to convince third-part countries. Finally, special funds should be allocated, especially by the European Commission, to explore crypto Armenians for the restoration and revival of their cultures which are under the threat of extinction The targeting of the "Other" in Turkey. By Desmond Fernandes.[i] As we come to mark the 5th anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination, it becomes important to recognize that the “Other” continues to be targeted in Turkey: The right to life, protection from the state, to associate freely, express oneself and assert one’s cultural, religious and political identity remains under threat, just as it did at the time of Hrant Dink’s assassination. In some respects, the targeting of the “Other” has intensified, despite the rhetoric of so-called “Kurdish opening” by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) ruling government and moves to draft a new constitution. As Charlie Pottins has observed: Hrant Dink often spoke and wrote about the problems of democratisation in Turkey, defending other authors [and writers] … who came under criticism and prosecution for their opinions … Dink hoped his questioning would pave the way for peace between the two [indeed, all] peoples: “If I write about the [Armenian] genocide, [he noted], it angers the Turkish generals. I want to write and ask how we can change this historical conflict into peace. They don’t know how to solve the Armenian problem” [i.e. in a democratic, non-violent, non-repressive manner]. Active in various democratic platforms and civil society organisations, Hrant Dink emphasised the need for democratisation in Turkey and focused on the issues of free speech, minority rights, civic rights and issues pertaining to the Armenian community in Turkey … [Targeted under Article 301, Hrant had stated of the targeting of Armenians]: “Of course I'm saying it's a genocide, because its consequences show it to be true and label it so. We see that people who had lived on this soil for 4,000 years were exterminated by these events”.[ii] Unfortunately, since that statement by Hrant, little has changed concerning the Turkish government’s stance on the Armenian genocide. Genocide denial persists and there have been few, if any, significant improvements in terms of free speech, minority rights, civic rights and issues pertaining to the targeting of the ‘Other’. Concerning restrictions on free speech and freedom of expression, journalists, students, trade unionists, academics, members of the public opposed to government and state policies, lawyers, poets, artists, singers, members of opposition parties and particularly the ‘pro-Kurdish’ party, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), have all been targeted. Those active in various democratic platforms and civil society organisations are being detained and subjected to various forms of targeting, not least by the ‘anti-terror’ squads. Anything perceived to be critical of government positions can now constitute a ‘terrorist’ offence. As the Turkish Interior Minister recently warned: How are they [i.e. the ‘Other’] supporting terrorism? Maybe by reflecting it in their paintings. They write poems and reflect it in their poems. They write daily articles and columns about it. Not content with that, they are trying to demoralize the soldiers and police who fight against terrorism by making them the subjects of their artworks.[iii] Indeed, he suggested that “there was no distinction between legal Kurdish politicians and terrorists and claimed that artistic activities could constitute terrorism”.[iv] Writing from his prison cell, having recently been detained in one of the many raids happening almost daily in the country now,[v] Ragip Zarakolu, the director of Belge Publishing House, Honorary Board member of the Human Rights Association (IHD), the Chair of Turkey’s Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee,[vi] and the recipient of Turkey’s Journalist’s Society’s Press Freedom Prize in 2007 (alongside the late Hrant Dink and Gulcin Cayligil), noted the way that people who have a conscience, and voice concerns about what they see/have learnt and/or witnessed, are subject to ‘anti-terror’ targeting: “If conscience now serves as a justification for unfair arrests in this country, the gravity of the point we have reached makes itself felt once more. If lies pass as the truth, and denials have replaced apologies, then everything is rotten”.[vii] Indeed, with the ruling of the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court yesterday, which only charged one person with life imprisonment for the assassination of Hrant Dink, and absurdly saw no “deep state” role in his murder: Dink family's lawyer, Fethiye Çetin, slammed the ruling, saying it meant that a “state tradition of political murders” was deliberately left intactbecause it did not deal with accusations of state involvement in the 2007 murder. “They made fun of us throughout the five-year trial process. We did not know they saved the biggest joke to the very end … This ruling means a tradition was left untouched. The state tradition of political murders. The tradition of state discriminating against some of its citizens and turning them into enemies”, she said.[viii] The group, Hrant’s Friends, which includes his widow Rakel, made the following statement: The ruling is the state’s decision. The ones who decided to take Hrant from us five years ago - the security forces, gendarmerie, intelligence, judiciary, media, government, opposition - will once again make a decision in the courthouse. They will say that the murder is the job of two or three hitmen. They will try to hide in their dark world. But we know them”.[ix] Even as Turkey continues to be touted as a “model democracy” by deep political forces and governing elites in the US,[x] UK and many NATO countries, the targeting of the “Other” continues in intensified mode. As Ozgur Gundem, the newspaper, recently noted over its targeting alongside ‘Others’: On 20 December, 49 journalists and media workers were taken into custody within the context of the so-called KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) operation. Thirty seven journalists have been remanded in custody. The raids and arrests that have been committed towards our newspaper, Dicle News Agency (DİHA), Gün Printing House, Etik News Agency and Democratic Modernity magazine are the summit of the “intellectual and political genocide” policy coordinated by the political government, Fethullah Gülen’s movement followers, the Police, and the Judiciary institutions, which is publicly confessed by Besir Atalay. The "air vessel" of the Kurdish people and the democratic public is the Kurdish media, and now with this attack, Kurdish people and the democratic public are left breathless and it is aimed to … drown [it]. We are working under an undeclared "coup d'état" situation … [The] Turkish Republic has become a police state … Everybody should raise their voice to defend the rights of the people against the attacks of the police state … The military forces that are under the government’s command, are actually carrying out a bloody massacre through air strikes over the hills of Amed [Diyarbakir]. The attack towards the 'free press' aims to hide the war crimes of the Turkish army.[xi] The government has been attacking everything that is Kurdish. The state declared war on the entire Kurdish public that wants to live freely with its own identity and language, including those with and without weapons, those belonging to PKK and not …The Turkish government is not aware that it is actually undermining its own colonialist goal when it is destroying people that support the policy of living together … The AKP needs to understand that the possibility of ways of peace, living and wanting to live under the same roof is actually being destroyed by the continuous war of 30 years … It is now targeting peaceful civilian actors … We are calling all the media and all the actors of the democratic field: Don’t be silent. Since you have been silent, the government, Fethullah Gülen’s movement followers, the police, and the judicial authorities are talking to us with the language of fascists and attacking with their methods. Do not be an accomplice! Because, this fire will burn you too![xii] On 13th January, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) made the following appeal: It is a well-known fact that nearly 5000 Kurdish politicians including 6 parliamentarians, 27 mayors, dozens of members of city council and executive members of BDP (the Peace and Democracy Party) have been arrested… Police operations are continuing since 14 April 2009. These coordinated operations are transformed to political genocide against Kurds … The police operations have been widened to Kurdish lawyers and journalists. 41 lawyers have been held in prison since 25/11/2011. Following this another police operation was launched against Kurdish journalists … 36 journalists have been held in prison along with the lawyers. In total more than 70 Kurdish journalists have been in prison since April 2009. It is abundantly clear that these police operations against Kurds are being orchestrated by the AKP Government. All the police raids were launched immediately after Prime Minister Erdoğan made inflammatory speeches attacking Kurdish politicians. In particular, after the last amendments to the judicial system under the name of “judicial reforms”, judges and prosecutors have followed the lead of the AKP Government. Despite the fact that this has been heavily criticized by numerous observers, the AKP Government has increased its pressure step by step against media executives. In fact the majority of media organizations in Turkey are now under the control of AKP Government.[xiii] We have experienced this new reality in connection with the Uludere Massacre of 28 December 2011 when 35 Kurdish villagers [i.e. civilians, many of them children] were killed by the Turkish F-16 bombardment even though the true identity of the victims had been confirmed by border security units before the bombardment took place. The AKP Government is continuing to shield those responsible for the massacre. Furthermore, the government is preventing any detailed news appearing on TV or in the newspapers about the Uludere Massacre … New police operation[s] ha[ve also] been launched against the Peace and Democracy Party and civil society organisations such as the Human Rights Association (IHD), the Trade Union of Public Workers (KESK) … It is not only Kurdish politicians, but also Turkish democrats, lawyers, journalists, thousands of students and civil society organization members who are now jailed without any legitimate basis by the AKP Government. It is especially the Anti-Terror Law, Turkish Criminal Code and Law of Criminal Procedure that allow prosecutors to arrest Kurds and opposition activists without bringing forward any evidence … Delivering speeches on the theme of Kurdish Identity and attending legitimate open meetings are defined as terrorist actions by the Turkish judicial system ... The AKP Government is trying to criminalize the BDP and its members by these arrests. Nevertheless, the AKP Government continues to receive very strong support from member states of the European Union and the United States.[xiv] This scandalous situation should be challenged and reversed. It should also be emphasized that many ‘Others’ are being targeted throughout Turkey.According to the worldwide writers association PEN, Turkish authorities have arrested up to 1,000 scholars, writers, publishers and rights advocates alone during a two-year crackdown. The Human Rights Association (İHD), the Education and Science Workers' [and teachers] Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the Health and Social Service Workers Union (SES), amongst others have been targeted. “According to a report prepared by the Progressive Lawyers' Association of Turkey, there are around 500 university students who are currently under arrest and charged with terrorism. Evidence? Public prosecutors' indictments are full of symptoms of terrorism: [peacefully] participating in May Day celebrations, protesting the government[‘s policies] on various occasions, and, worst of all, keeping the books of Lenin, Stalin, and Che Guevara at home”.[xv] In November 2011, “police forces raided the houses of more than 40 members of [the Progressive Lawyers'] association and the court said it suspected that 33 of its lawyers might be infected with terrorism. They were arrested. The International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights condemned their arrests. It was the biggest wave of arrests of lawyers in the history of the Republic of Turkey. Even in the years of military coups, in 1971 and 1980, we didn't face anything comparable”, notes Mubarakby Eren Buğlalılar.[xvi] Furthermore, “8,190 people are under arrest [under] allegation[s] of ‘terrorism’ according to data released on November 31 by the Ministry of Justice. According to th[is] data, even children are easily accused for being involved in ‘terrorism’ under the Turkish Criminal Code (TMK), legislated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration”.[xvii] “’There is no press day to celebrate and there is no Day of Journalists worthy to be commemorated any more’, the steering board of the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) announced on 10 January 2012, the Day of Working Journalists…’The month of January was nothing else but obliterating [ie covering up] the murders of [journalists] Uğur Mumcu, Metin Göktepe and Hrant Dink, their murderers and the instigators in the deepness of the state’, the journalists' organization stated”.[xviii] According to Mehmet Bozgeyik, the General Secretary of EGITIM SEN (the teachers’ trade union): Any opposition which does not share the AKP’s viewpoint or acts in line with their political programme are considered enemies and are targeted by the AKP. Elected officials, university lecturers, journalists, political party representatives, NGO representatives, lawyers, youth, non-AKP municipalities, in short all opposition forces, are now falling within the AKP’s target … Our houses, telephones, organisations, publishing and political party offices, unions, and even our private lives, are now under the surveillance of the cemaat-controlled police. We want to state clearly and issue a strong warning that this is the way to fascism. The aim is to create a society silent and [silenced] into subservience. The organised democratic forces including members of the union movement are facing an unprecedented wave of attacks and pressure. The fascist tendencies at work in the country are now being institutionalised. These tendencies are led from the centre and according to a specific programme.[xix] Martin Dolzer, the author of a key 2010 Report of the Human Rights Delegation from Brussels, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg (based on a visit between 15 October-25 October 2010 by lawyers, human rights observers, an MEP, a member of the German Bundestag, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Land Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia) confirms that: Furthermore, the systematic harassment and rape of women by the security forces is a major problem in small towns … Generally, it is evident that ... the Turkish government has been resorting to a worrying degree to methods that involve the criminalisation of functioning local political structures, the detention of politicians and activists who have an impact on international public opinion or, in the provinces that are increasingly affected by military operations, even attacks on the right to life. Anyone associated with human, cultural, political and ‘minority’ rights protection work, alongside work exposing the anti-democratic policies and practices of the state as it applies to prisons, the ‘disappeared’ and the targeting of political prisoners, mass graves and the neoliberal framework (even within the educational sphere) faces targeting under the anti-terror laws, in the name of catch-all “anti-KCK [Kurdistan Communities Union] operations”. Even Kemal Aydin, Executive of the Association for Solidarity and Support of Relatives of Disappeared People (YAKAY-DER), for example, was taken into custody after a raid on 4 October 2011. The Turkish government, moreover, continues to engage in Armenian, Assyrian, Syriac, Greek, Greek Cypriot, Kurdish and 'Other' genocide denialism even as ‘minorities’ continue to face discrimination and targeting of various kinds. As the distinguished academic Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, amongst many others clarifies, Turkey still remains in breach of at least two articles of the UN Genocide Convention.[xx] Chemical weapons continue to be used by the state against targeted ‘Others’ and war crimes continue to be perpetrated. The report by a Human Rights Delegation from Hamburgand Stuttgart (based upon a 21-day Human Rights Delegation visit in September 2011) concluded that “the number of war crimes committed by the Turkish military has risen sharply again since 2009. These crimes include torture and the mutilation of dead guerrillas, extra-judicial executions of civilians and captured guerrillas, and the use of chemical weapons … Since the parliamentary elections of June 2011, the Erdoğan Government has been seeking a ‘Tamil solution’ to the Kurdish question, and is implementing a modified form of this … The fact that the Turkish Government describes peace endeavours by the Kurdish side and commitment to human rights as terror represents a barrier to any political solution … The detention of two [of our] delegation members clearly shows that the raising of human rights violations is not tolerated under the AKP Government … The AKP is evidently keen to do all it can to prevent this kind of publicity and anything that might foster the possibility of peace talks … [Even] in Istanbul, people speak of a radical gentrification programme in the city areas around Taksim Square. For at least three years now the Kurdish population, along with Sinti and Roma, have been systematically driven out of these areas. Mafia-style methods are routinely used in this exercise”.[xxi] For Janet Levy: “Discriminatory practices against minorities continue unabated. Full political participation, equal rights and freedom of expression and religion are curtailed” by the government. “The denial of the well-documented historical truth and the memorializing of its murderers perpetuate[s] the crime of genocide and is an affront to its victims, families and survivors. The descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek victims deserve nothing less than full recognition of this atrocity and a full apology by the Turkish government” (Levy, American Thinker, August 2011). Many “representatives of Turkey’s various minority communities have”, indeed, “expressed skepticism regarding ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for the country. ‘Considering the current political conditions in Turkey, I do not believe the new constitution will be an egalitarian one that embraces all sections of society,” [said] Arev Cebeci, a Turkish-Armenian …. Turgut Alaca, the president of Turkey’s Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association (Mezo-Der), a Syriac association, also rebuffed claims about the new constitution’s benefits, [saying]: “We cannot make use of our rights, either as normal citizens or as members of a minority. We cannot teach our language to our children. Who are we? And what will change with the new constitution, I would like to ask? … The current constitution states that all citizens of the Turkish Republic are equal, but that is not what we see in practice”.[xxii] [i] Desmond Fernandes is a former Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at De Montfort University, UK. He specializes in Genocide Studies, Human Geography and Criminalisation and has published widely on the subject. [ii] Pottins, C. (2011) ‘Remembering a Murdered Editor’, Random Pottins, 9 January 2011 (Accessed at: http://randompottins.blogspot.com/2011/01/hrant-dink-murdered-four-years-ago-in.html). [iii] Buğlalılar, M. E. (2012) ‘The Epidemic of Terrorism’, 31 December 31, 2011 (Accessed at: mrzine.monthlyreview.org; http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [iv] Hürriyet Daily News (2011) ‘Interior minister under fire over terror charges’, Hürriyet Daily News, 28 December, 2011 (Accessed at: http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [v] On Friday 28 October 2011, Info-Turk confirms that “a large-scale manhunt in Istanbul against Kurdish and human rights activists” took place in which Ragip Zarakolu (director of Belge Publishing House and Chair of the Publishers Association's Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey) and Professor Busra Ersanli (Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Marmara University, a constitutional analyst and a member of the Peace and Democracy Party’s/BDP’s intra-party constitutional commission) were detained. In his first letter from prison, sent through his lawyer Özcan Kiliç, Ragip has stated that: “My arrest and the accusation of membership of an illegal organization are parts of a campaign aiming to intimidate all intellectuals and democrats of Turkey and particularly to deprive the Kurds of any support”. The International Publishers Association is also concerned that Ragıp Zarakolu’s imprisonment, alongside several other writers and intellectuals like Professor Büşra Ersanlı, is in violation of Turkey’s obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Indeed, under the guise of ‘anti-terrorism’ initiatives, no one is safe any longer. The Turkish Prime Minister’s warning to those protesting against Zarakolu’s and Ersanlı’s detention merely highlights the extent to which matters have reached crisis point. As European Federation of Journalists President, Arne König, clarifies: “The arrest of a journalist and well-known intellectual under the pretext of terroristic activities is clearly arbitrary and abusive ... It shows how eager the government is to muzzle any critical voice by using anti-democratic methods”. [vi] As the Director of Belge, Ragip has published key path-breaking books on the Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac, Greek, Kurdish and ‘Other’ genocides and the nature of Turkish state terror. He is the recipient of Turkey’s Journalist’s Society’s (2007) Press Freedom Prize, the International Association of Genocide Scholar’s (2007) Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Battle Against Deniers of the Armenian Genocide and All Denials of Genocides, the International Publishers Association’s (2008) Freedom to Publish Prize and the Hakop Meghapart Medal of Honour Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from the Armenian Human Rights Association. He is currently a nominee for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. [vii] Zarakolu to be reunited with son behind bars’, Hürriyet Daily News (Accessed at: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/zarakolu-to-be-reunited-with-son-behind-bars.aspx?pageID=238&nID=10402&NewsCatID=339). [viii] Today’s Zaman (2012) ‘Suspect gets life in Dink Murder Case, Court sees No Deep State Role’, Today’s Zaman, 17 January 2012 (Accessed at: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-268795-suspect-gets-life-in-dink-murder-case-court-sees-no-deep-state-role.html). [ix] Today’s Zaman (2012) ‘Suspect gets life in Dink Murder Case, Court sees No Deep State Role’, Today’s Zaman, 17 January 2012 (Accessed at: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-268795-suspect-gets-life-in-dink-murder-case-court-sees-no-deep-state-role.html). [xi] A report by the Human Rights Delegation from Hamburg and Stuttgart recently concluded that “the number of war crimes committed by the Turkish military has risen sharply again since 2009. These crimes include torture and the mutilation of dead guerrillas, extra-judicial executions of civilians and captured guerrillas, and the use of chemical weapons ... We condemn in the strongest terms the repeated and targeted killing of civilians and BDP officials by Turkish security forces”. Other human rights reports have arrived at similar conclusions, even as the British, German, French and US governments have continued to extend diplomatic and even military/psychological warfare oriented support to the Turkish state in its highly questionable ‘anti-terrorism’ drives. [xii] Özgür Gündem (2012)‘This fire will burn you as well’. Translated by ANF, ANF, 6 January 2012 (Accessed at: http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [xiii] Several Turkish journalist organisations have concluded that the repressive atmosphere has intensified since the Prime Minister’s meeting with national media owners and executives on 21 October 2011, in which he “urged journalists to show restraint in their coverage of the conflict” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October). Following government pressure, on 24 October, five leading Turkish state agencies issued a communique which, disturbingly for freedom of expression advocates, announced that: “Common principles have been adopted concerning the coverage of terrorist incidents”. These included sweeping agreements to engage in censorship of news and to “comply with the publication bans issued by the competent authorities” (reported byInfo-Turk, 30 October). For Reporters Without Borders: “Minimising the scale of human losses or choosing not to report certain operations will just increase mistrust of the media. Complete and objective coverage of developments in eastern Turkey is an essential precondition for reaching a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October). [xiv] Demirtas, S. and Kisanak, G. (2012) ‘Appeal from BDP to International Public Opinion’, Info Turk, 13 January 2012 (Accessed at: http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [xv] Buğlalılar, M. E. (2012) ‘The Epidemic of Terrorism’, 31 December 31, 2011 (Accessed at: mrzine.monthlyreview.org; http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [xvi] Buğlalılar, M. E. (2012) ‘The Epidemic of Terrorism’, 31 December 31, 2011 (Accessed at: mrzine.monthlyreview.org; http://www.info-turk.be/401.htm#people). [xvii] DIHA (2012) ‘Eight thousand 190 people under arrest for “terrorism”’, DIHA, 13 January 2012 (Accessed at: http://www.diclehaber.com/2/22/1/viewNews/289864). [xviii] DIHA (2012) ‘Nothing to celebrate for press members in Turkey’, DIHA, 13 January 2012. [xix] Quoted in Peace in Kurdistan (2011) ‘Mass arrests of trade unionists in Turkey’, PIK, 4 December 2011. [xx] Tove Skutnabb-Kangas’ 10 October 2010 presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 'Kurdish as a mother tongue: No linguistic human rights, and linguistic genocide in education', clarifies that “Kurdish is not allowed to be used as the medium of education (the language of teaching, Unterrichtssprache) in any [public] school in Turkey ... Subtractive submersion education with Turkish as the teaching language for Kurds (and other minorities) is the main educational problem … Education offered to Kurdish children in Turkey is [also] specifically guilty of genocide according to the following two definitions: Article II(e): 'forcibly transferring children of the group to another group'; and Article II(b): 'causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group'. Our conclusion is also that subtractive education [of this kind] fulfills legally the criteria for a crime against humanity. This should be tried in courts”. [xxi] Report of a Human Rights Delegation from Hamburg and Stuttgart – By Britta Eder, Gül Güzel and Martin Dolzer [xxii] Ziflioglu, V., Hürriyet Daily News, 8 November 2011. The Situation in Baluchistan by Hyrbair Marri Thank you for inviting me to speak here today The situation of Balochistan has worsened since our last year meeting. During the year of 2011 Pakistan’s security agencies have not only continued abducting Baloch activists but they also started to kill enforced-disappeared Baloch under-custody. The military offensives against civilians also continue till this day. The data collected by our sources in Balochistan confirms that over 365 abducted Baloch have been killed by Pakistan’s military in captivity. According to the families of victims and post-mortem reports the bodies of Baloch activists are tortured to the extent that it shames humanity. Bones of Baloch youth and Intelligentsia have been broken, eyes have been plucked, bodies dishonoured, and some killed with hunger and thirst. The torture marks on the bodies of killed Baloch or those who survived and were found in badly injured condition give the glimpse of brutalities the detained Baloch go under in Pakistani detention centers. The information we have collected from Balochistan is as follows: January 2011: 18 Baloch activists were killed under-custody. IFebruary 11 Baloch were killed and dumped. In March 16 innocent Baloch had been brutally killed by the Pakistani military. In April 11 Balochs' bodies were recovered. In May 16 Baloch political activists were killed. In June: 5 political activists had become prey of Pakistani security forces barbarism. In July 25, enforced-disappeared Baloch's bodies were found in Balochsitan. August 23, abducted Baloch were killed. In September 4 Baloch subjected brutal torture and killed under-custody. In October 14, Baloch students and activists were killed. In November Pakistani security forces killed 16 Baloch activists and in December 8 Baloch political activists were killed. Among the above mentioned numbers at least 106 victims were members of Baloch students Organization – most of them under 20 years of age – two of the youngest student Majeed Baloch 14 and Waheed Baloch 13 were also among them. At least ten Baloch journalist were also abducted and killed. Their only fault was that they were doing their duty, just like Hrant Dink, to expose the state brutalities against Baloch people. Today as we remember the Arminian journalist for his bravery and objective reporting, I would also like to pay tributes to those Baloch journalists who had been subject to brutal torture and killed by the state of Pakistan. The rest of the victims include Baloch poets, lawyers, and intellectual and other conscience members of society. Pakistan is systematically wiping out the most educated and politically aware Baloch activists because it knows that these are the people who have been spreading awareness among Baloch masses and have been educating Baloch nation of their political, cultural and economic rights. Reputable human rights organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Asian Human Rights Commission have released extensive and comprehensive reports on Human rights abuses in Balochistan. They clearly stated in their findings that Pakistani security forces were involved in abductions and killed and dump policy of Baloch activists. We are however, disappointed to note that the international democratic powers have remained silent on the Pakistani atrocities against the Baloch people. Last Friday the US state department has shown their concern on enforced-disappearances and other human right violation when they answered a Baloch tweeter question but their statement escalated Pakistani atrocities and scores of killings have been reported since then. Fresh military operations have been started in Balochistan as reaction to the US state department’s statement. On Monday Pakistan military bombed Baloch villages in Chamalang and surrounding areas in Balochistan. At least 10 people including women and children were killed due to indiscriminate bombardment. This has been a fashion by Pakistani security that whenever an International Human Rights organisation or a foreign country has shown concern about Balochistan situation they have reacted more severely and barbarically. The Baloch freedom movement is much older than the current Arab spring and we noted that the US, UK and other power with permission of UN have immediately intervened practically and assisted the revolutionaries in all possible ways but in case of Baloch liberation struggle against illegal occupation of their land there has been no such International support. Such double standards and selective humanity of International powers is alienating the Baloch Nation and pushing them against the wall, Baloch are now increasingly complaining that the international community do not even consider them human beings and have no values for innocent Baloch lives. The Pakistan military generals who committed crimes against humanity in Balochistan are living and roaming in Western countries with full impunity. In Pakistan they are untouchable but now seem they consider themselves unchallenged even in foreign countries. Whereas, we are still being stopped and singled out at port and airports on our return whenever we travel abroad and asked pathetic questions like where did we go, in which hotel we stayed in and did we meet any Baloch? Such behaviour of UK’s security forces prove that they are still in collusion with Pakistan and it still pulls the strings when it comes to Baloch living abroad. We are also receiving indirect threats that if we continue to “defame” Pakistan then the consequences will be severe. They are threatening us that we should not think we will be safe in foreign countries. The western powers and International democracies must help the Baloch in just struggle for National liberation. If they failed to do so the entire Balochistan will be turned into a base for religious extremism by Pakistan and if this happens then no power in world can defeat the global extremism. [x] The European Union-Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) notes that: “Morton Abramowitz, the former US ambassador to Turkey from 1989 to 1991, recently published an article in The National Interest (27.12.11) praising Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan as ‘the world’s most dynamic and impressive Muslim leader’ … Indeed, Ambassador Abramowitz even praises Erdogan for being ‘the voice of the oppressed’ … Pardon us, but there are many who would strongly disagree with this assessment” (EUTCC, ‘EUTCC response to article by Morton Abramowitz - Year of Erdogan’, EUTCC, 9 January 2012. Accessed at: http://www.rojhelat.info/english/perspectives/1961-eutcc-response-to-article-by-morton-abramowitz-year-of-erdogan).
POLITICIANS WORLD-WIDE CHALLENGED ABOUT ATTITUDES ON PAKISTAN
Government Aid under Scrutiny over Freedom of Religion Concerns
An Early Day Motion on Pakistan drafted for the House of Commons is set to be heard globally on March 2nd 2012, the first anniversary of the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, who was the only Christian Federal Government Minister in Pakistan, and an outspoken advocate of the rights of minorities and opponent of Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws.
So far, parliamentarians from the nations of Canada, USA, UK, Ireland and India are set to raise the issue in their respective national assemblies. Press conferences and candlelit vigils are planned in all these nations outside their respective national assembly’s on the anniversary of Bhatti’s violent martyrdom. In the UK, the Motion is set to be read in Parliament by MP Andrew Stephenson (Tory, for Pendle, Lancashire). In the USA, an adapted version will be read in the US Capitol by Congressman Trent Franks (Arizona Representative, Republican).
In addition to pointing out that blasphemy laws are in direct violation of International Human rights of freedom of speech and religion, the motion also notes that aid from Western taxpayers goes to Pakistan with very few precautions, and calls on governments to make sure that such aid is not used to perpetuate the second class status of religious minorities, especially via educational material that demonizes and misrepresents them. The original idea came out of discussion between Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) and Jason Campbell of Christian Action Network (CAN) in the US. Wilson Chowdhry stated :
‘We wanted to both honour the sacrifice of Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who boldly challenged the iniquitous blasphemy laws, knowing full well it would likely lead to his violent death, and raise the profile of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been imprisoned under a death sentence for over two years for a false blasphemy charge. Asia has become something of a cause celebre, but many more cases go unreported. The problem is endemic, and we wanted to raise the wider issue, not just Asia Bibi’s terrible situation. False blasphemy charges are raised on at least a weekly basis across every area of Pakistan, and Christians are disproportionately targeted. The threat of such false charges is used to oppress minorities such as Christians, especially when disputes and vendettas are launched against them. Some Muslim landowners and businessmen regularly use these tactics to gain poor Christians land and property.’
Whilst Asia Bibi achieved iconic status as the only woman to be ‘lawfully’ sentenced to death for blasphemy, there are hundreds more victims, some of whom have died, either by beatings and poor conditions in prisons, or at the hands of Muslim extremists when they have been acquitted in the courts. On occasion even the Muslim lawyers and judges involved in such acquittals have been assassinated. For those victims who do survive, the BPCA and other campaigners say that a nomadic life of fear, hiding in safe houses and inability to earn money awaits, or a struggle to claim asylum in Western nations.
As well as the BPCA in the UK, other campaigners involved include Watson Gill, President of Global Christian Voice of Holland. Along with a press conference, he will submit the Motion through a Canadian parliamentarian. In the USA, the groups ‘Voice of the Martyrs’ and CAN are leading efforts. Revised copies of the Motion are also being championed by Dr John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council, Government of India and Secretary General of the All India Christian Council, via an Indian parliamentarian, and by David Turner, President of ‘Church in Chains’ in Ireland. In Canada one Sam Lal Din is involved.
For interviews, contact Wilson Chowdhry :
Email Wilson@aasecurity.co.uk
Phone 0208 5140861
Notes for Editors
1). The British Pakistani Christian Association was founded in the wake of the Gojra incident, when a Christian family was burned alive after false blasphemy charges that some Christians had burned papers with Quranic verses at a wedding. Many houses were burned by militant mobs, while the police stood by and did nothing. As well as highlighting the suffering and persecution of Christians in Pakistan, the BPCA also works for inter-faith harmony in the UK, mainly around its base in Ilford. They also give help to Christian Pakistani asylum seekers whose requests have been unjustly denied, and arrange petitions and protests on a regular basis. To see more about their work, visit their blog at http://britishpakistanichristian.blogspot.com/
2) The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are one strand of a complex of social, religious and legal factors that keep Christians and other minorities in a position of inferiority and fearfulness. Frequently the worst jobs are reserved for Christians only, they are denied rights that they should get as citizens, and would otherwise get if they were Muslims. For instance, Christian sanitation works should get basic rights as civil servants such as paid holidays, pensions and health care, but via the strategy of firing and then immediately re-hiring them every 90 days, these rights are denied them, even though they work for the same employer for many decades.
3) The following patterns are repeated across all areas of Pakistan
a) Christians are pressured, through harassment, bribery and threats, to become Muslims by their employers and landlords. In addition, if they go to the police, they are often told no action will be taken - for instance to restore raped and kidnapped daughters – unless they convert to Islam. In addition, Christians are routinely treated as legally inferior in court, their testimony counting for less than that of Muslims, in accordance with Sharia principles.
b) Muslim clerics will stir up mobs against churches to enforce their inferior status, and will then use ‘reconciliation meetings’ with the Christian victims to enforce the measures they caused the riots to in the first place
c) Whenever Christians are deemed to have ‘got above themselves’ or are doing well, they run the grave risk of a false blasphemy charge against them. If there is a dispute or an attempt to infringe on the rights of a Christian and the Christian resists, then the prospect of false blasphemy charges are used to intimidate them. The whole Christian community is held accountable by raging mobs for the ‘blasphemy’, buildings burnt and people attacked. In a number of recent cases, Muslims have been discovered desecrating Quran’s themselves and then placing them outside Christian churches and homes to incriminate Christians. These perpetrators are often treated differently to alleged Christian ‘blasphemers’ who are usually imprisoned and can often languish for months to years without trial. Thus making an accusation, however groundless, is used as a way to incarcerate victims for a long period of time.
d) So called ‘Muslim land mafia’ – local businessmen, politicians and landowners – will often intimidate poor Christians to get their houses or land when values rise. Whole communities can be uprooted, especially in slum areas. Even government allocated land is not safe. In one recent case, a Christian village acquired land to build an orphanage, and the local ‘Muslim mafia’ sent a convey of trucks loaded with armed thugs to seize the land, and when the unarmed Christian villagers rushed to defend the orphanage land, the thugs opened fire, killing one man and injuring many others, including women and children.
e) Another very common event is that Muslim extremists or Muslims from influential families kidnap and rape Christian girls, then force them to convert to Islam and marry their abusers. Frequently Christian school girls are snatched on their way to school. Such incidents are occurring at the rate of at least 1 a day, and probably more like 2 a day in Pakistan. Often such rapes are videoed in an attempt to shame and blackmail both the victims and their families into ‘voluntarily’ converting to Islam. Even worse, Pakistani courts often side with the abusers against the victims, declaring the marriages ‘valid’ because they were witnessed by an Islamic cleric, and denying the families of the victims access to their abused and kidnapped relatives. Just in the last few months, a Christian woman factory worker was murdered after resisting rape by her Muslim employer, and a teenage girl who was snatched from the motorbike she was riding with her mother, and was shot dead as she resisted abduction and rape.
4) In addition to the kind of incidents above, the following recent incidents (only a very small selection) give a flavour of life for Christians in Pakistan :
An elderly Christian man and his wife severely beaten by Islamic extremists after he refused their offer of a prostitute in an attempt to convert him to Islam.
A young Christian maid (pre-teen) was prevented from seeing her family, and raped and tortured to death by her employer, a senior Muslim lawyer. His colleagues in the local bar Association forbade any lawyers to represent the victims family and boycotted the courts. The lawyers also beat up TV cameramen trying to video aspects of the case. Christians were banned from the courtroom. After intense infighting and disputed interactions, the prosecution did not present the original autopsy report that detailed her injuries, but rather a medical report that echoed the claims of the lawyer that she had a fatal skin disease, resulting in his acquittal.
After rejecting his employers invitation to embrace Islam, a Christian farm workers’ 2 year old daughter was taken out into the fields and raped so brutally that even after extensive surgery, doctors had to cut a hole in her stomach for her to urinate out of. The family eventually fled to Canada. For a video of their situation and their escape, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StSbvmoXlus&feature=player_embedded
A Christian maid left valuable jewellery with her employer for temporary safe keeping. After the employer’s house was robbed and all the jewellery taken, the employer’s family accused the pregnant maid and her husband and had them arrested. The police beat and tortured the woman for 3 days, resulting in severe damage, and her unborn baby in grave danger of death.
The investigation into the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti was deliberately sidetracked by ridiculous accusations that his murder was due to a family feud, allowing the real perpetrators to flee the country.
A Christian man who refused to convert to Islam was burnt nearly to death by a mob in front of a police station, while police officers looking on raped his wife, while their children were forced to watch.
5) Christians and other religious minorities are routinely denied aid in disaster situations, such as the recent devastating floods. Both government and Mosque distributed aid are for Muslims only, with reports from across Pakistan that Christians and the like were turned away from aid camps, food lines and medical attention, unless they converted to Islam.
6) The blasphemy laws have widespread support in Pakistan and even politicians who might be minded to reform or remove the laws are afraid to be seen as going ‘soft’. After the first assassination of Governer Taseer, one of only two politicians to campaign for the law’s abolishment after Asia Bibi’s death sentence for ‘blasphemy’, 100’s of scholars of the so-called ‘ Islamic moderates’, the Barelvi sect, warned that those who opposed the laws were blasphemers themselves and that their death should not be mourned.
7) A recent report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom on Education and Religious Discrimination in Pakistan concluded that even in government schools the texts used as well as the teaching was all too often a significant driver in perpetuating religious discrimination and demonization of minorities in Pakistan. You can read the report here : http://www.uscirf.gov/images/Pakistan-ConnectingTheDots-Email(4).pdf
Earlier in the year, David Cameron pledged a significant amount of UK funding for Pakistani education, but with, as far as we can see, very little oversight, conditions or controls.
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