Prospects for Change in Turkey
Mr. Speaker, I want to increase my congratulations to
the citizens of Turkey for their elections held on November three. Witnessing
the non violent change of government is a alternate this is considerable for
each Turkey's citizens and for his or her network. Many of Turkey's associates
need to appearance that this form of transfer of electricity is feasible, for
the human beings of these worldwide places have for too prolonged suffered
beneath the illusion that they want to stay with their repressive regimes that
hold energy via undemocratic technique.
It is also essential to understand that the Turks,
visible by way of using a few as a model for the global places of Central Asia,
aren't new kids on the block--former President Demirel end up an real signer of
the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. As Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), I actually have followed
cautiously the tendencies in Turkey . With a particularly eager hobby within
the protection of human rights which has such an impact at the lives of person
guys, women and kids, I continue to be involved about the continuing use of
torture, violations of non secular freedom and threats to civil society.
Through the poll
field, the Justice and Development Party, called the AKP, obtained
34.Three percent of the vote, giving them a easy majority of 363 seats in the
550-seat Turkish Grand National Assembly. This entitles the AKP, led through
former Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to control with out sharing
political energy. He will no longer be without demanding situations to his
authority though.
On November eight, the anniversary of the demise of
the Turkish reformer Kemal Ataturk, General Hilmi, Ozkok issued a assertion
vowing "to shield the republic in competition to all forms of threats,
particularly fundamentalism and separatist sports activities,'' reiterating
strongly the military's view of itself due to the fact the historic guarantor
of Turkey's secular device. Mr. Speaker, even as the transition appears non
violent, it isn't with out its traces and stresses, no matter the functionality
of the army stepping in locate it irresistible has completed over and over inside
the past. We can remarkable desire that is not the very last consequences of
this transition.
As an particular taking part State of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Turkey has traditional a massive
shape of human rights responsibilities. As head of the U.S. Delegation to the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I certainly have labored with my parliamentary
colleagues from Turkey to inspire protection for those commitments. With a
brand new authorities now not obligated to hold the methods of the antique,
there is a welcome possibility for such initiatives to be undertaken.
There are some unique topics that I urge the incoming
authorities to address immediately. Four Kurdish human beings of the Grand
National Assembly have been in prison because of the truth March 1994. I name
upon the brand new authorities to unfastened Layla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan
Dogan, and Selim Sadak and eliminate the trumped-up costs from their
information. They had been convicted for, among different things, speaking
their mother tongue inside and out of the congress building. As Mr. Erdogan
himself has said, such conviction should now not stand.
Also, past efforts to go back the masses of lots of
internally displaced Kurds to their houses in southeastern Turkey have
established ineffectual. The government want to take concrete steps to ensure
that refugees are allowed to go back to their private homes in protection and
dignity, which may additionally nicely require the clearing of land mines and
repairing of villages.
Mr. Speaker, with out reciting the prolonged list of
Turkey's human rights violations, which incorporates the usage of torture, it
is truthful to say that Turkey's file of implementation of OSCE human size
commitments remains terrible. While development has been made, the authority of
cops should be checked with the aid of the guideline of law. All claims of
torture have to be significantly investigated, regardless of in which the
studies leads. It is essential that without a doubt every person who commits
torture--in particular police, the protection forces or wonderful dealers of
the kingdom--need to be taken to courtroom and tried for excessive crimes. The
Forensic Medical Association must be allowed to carry out its expert duties and
act with out worry in its tries to record torture. Victims of torture want to
be paid due recompense by the us of a.
I am very concerned about the persevering with problem
no-governmental corporations face in a few unspecified time in the future of
Turkey, particularly the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. The Human Rights
Foundation exists in an unsure surroundings, with arbitrary shutdowns and
having its officers stressed, intimidated or arrested. Property has been seized
and not decrease lower back.
Religious freedom in Turkey, whether or no longer or
no longer for Muslims or different non secular communities, had suffered from
heavy-exceeded authorities involvement and control. The government allows
Turkish Muslims to handiest attend country-criminal mosques, pay attention to u
. S .-funded Imams, and get maintain of non secular schooling from us of
a-funded schools. The Directorate of Religious Affairs, which regulate all of
Turkey's 75,000 mosques and employ Imams, has been criticized for only selling
Sunni department of Islam. I may additionally want to inspire the latest
government to deliver to a near its law of all spiritual institutions.
The carrying of headscarves has furthermore been
regarded as pretty controversial for the motive that it's far visible as a
religious totem in an earthly country. Women who pick out this expression of
spiritual conviction are denied the functionality to attend u . S .-run
universities and artwork in public constructing, which incorporates colleges
and hospitals. The public sharing of spiritual notion in Turkey with the cause
to influence the listener to some unique issue of view is significantly curbed
for each Muslims and Christians. A range of evangelical Protestant businesses
in some unspecified time in the future of Turkey have referred to being focused
due to their spiritual unfastened speech, which contradicts OSCE commitments on
religious liberty and freedom of expression.
Turkey's Office of Foundations has contributed its
very private issues for faith groups, as it has closed and seized houses of
"true'' minority spiritual businesses and unrecognized religion agencies.
Several spiritual companies, maximum notably the Armenian Apostolic and Greek
Orthodox churches report issues, particularly on the network degree, in repairing
and maintaining current homes or shopping for new houses. The continued closure
of the Orthodox seminary on Halki Island remains a state of affairs.
Furthermore, spiritual groups not taken into consideration "wonderful minorities'' underneath the Lausanne Treaty are provided no criminal direction to shop for or hire houses to fulfill, and are thereby forced to hold conferences in non-public apartments. In reply, provincial governorships, after receiving a letter from the Ministry of Internal Affairs final 12 months, have initiated efforts to close those assembly places, leaving the smaller Protestant corporations with none options. The loss of professional popularity is an insurmountable hurdle for minority spiritual companies wishing to workout their faith as a community.@ Read More bizautomotive