Turkey: Treatment of non-Kurdish, non-Alevi ethnic minorities

According to a February 1999 Human Rights Watch report,

No official data exist concerning the size of ethnic minorities in Turkey since the early 1960s. … The absence of such data on ethnicity stems from the fact that the state has not asked questions regarding ethnicity or religion during census polling. In addition, ethnicity is a rather fluid concept in Turkey.

However, sources consulted by the Research Directorate agree that Kurds constitute the country's largest ethnic minority (Country Reports 1999 2000, section 5; HRW Feb. 1999; IND Sept. 1999), with an estimated population of between 12 and 15 million (ibid.). Other ethnic minority communities referred to in the sources consulted include Armenians, Syrians, Greeks, Arabs, Jews, Romani and Caucasians (Turkish Daily News 12 Dec. 1999; Country Reports 1999 2000; IND Sept. 1999; Nas Nov. 1998; AP 30 Mar. 2000).

Little general information on the treatment of non-Kurdish, non-Alevi ethnic minorities could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, according to a report by Article 19, a London-based non-governmental organization with a mandate to combat censorship and promote free expression, "the Turkish state officially does not recognize ethnic minorities other than religious ones as defined by the Lausanne Treaty of 1923" (Mar.-Apr. 1998). In a November 1998 article, Çigdem Nas of Marmara University's European Community Institute in Istanbul stated that "in our country, no minority exists except for those recognized by the Lausanne Treaty and the Turkish-Bulgarian Friendship Agreement." In his report, Professor Nas also claimed that

Although the Turkish State accepts that the Turkish nation is comprised of persons from different ethnic origins, it rejects the argument that different ethnic origins justify the claim for the granting of minority status. It limits cultural rights of citizens from different ethnic origins such as expressing their identities, and speaking their native languages to the private sphere and does not recognize the exercise of such rights in the public arena. This situation may be linked to the paranoia of the state about indivisibility, and fears of subversiveness. The state in Turkey is suspicious of private actors and groups operating in the public realm, and views such activity as intervention in its field of operation. This obsession with the monopoly of power and fears of division may also be linked to the memories of the losing of territory since the eighteenth century, the occupation by foreign powers after the first world war, and the War of Independence as well as to the troubles experienced with almost all of the neighboring States.

All states are under the legal obligation to grant minority rights stemming from international treaties and conventions to which they are parties, to those persons belonging to groups with minority status. Turkey is under such an obligation toward non-Moslem minorities since they constitute the only group in Turkey to which minority status is granted. Turkey has also placed reservations to this effect in the relevant OSCE documents (ibid.).

According to Article 19, "in practice, since the end of the 1980s, the large Kurdish minority as well as other ethnic minorities have been tacitly recognised" by the Turkish state (Mar.-Apr. 1998). This information is corroborated by Human Rights Watch, which indicated in a February 1999 report that "today, the situation concerning ethnic identity and language use has improved compared with the past." However, Human Rights Watch also stated that

Despite these improvements, serious problems remain. The constitution, Political Parties Law, the Law Concerning the Founding and Broadcasts of Television and Radio, the Foreign Language Education and Teaching Law, and the Law Concerning Fundamental Provisions on Elections and Voter Registries Provincial Administration Law, all prohibit or restrict with certain exceptions the use of languages other than Turkish. Political parties are still banned for "creating minorities" if they demand linguistic and cultural rights for Kurds. A recent attempt by a private foundation to teach Kurdish ran head-first into a legal brick wall. Broadcasting in Kurdish and other non-Turkish languages spoken as a mother tongue by citizens of Turkey is still prohibited by law. While publishing in Kurdish and other languages is legally unrestricted, the constitutional basis for such prohibitions remains (ibid.).

According to Country Reports 1999, "extremist groups or individuals target minority communities from time to time" (2000, section 5).

A number of reports describe the situation and treatment of specific ethnic groups in Turkey; examples follow.

Between 50,000 and 80,000 ethnic Armenians are thought to live in Turkey, with the majority concentrated in Istanbul (ibid.; IND Sept. 1999; Turkish Daily News 12 Dec. 1999). However, according to the Turkish Daily News, the "Armenian Patriarchate believes that there are about 250,000 Armenians who maintain their identity and their faith in secret still living in Anatolia" (ibid.). In its most recent country assessment, the UK Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), citing the Armenian Patriarchate, stated that there have been "incidents of harassment against Armenian churches in Istanbul" (Sept. 1999). The IND also referred to complaints by church officials of

growing encroachment by certain Muslim extremist groups on lands belonging to the Armenian community, especially on the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. The police have responded with intensified security measures (ibid.).

Fewer than 10,000 Syrian Orthodox Christians are believed to remain in Turkey, down from roughly 47,000 in 1980 (IND Sept. 1999), and are largely concentrated "around Midyat and Mardin" (Turkish Daily News 12 Dec. 1999). According to the Turkish Daily News, "since they do not have protected status under the Lausanne Treaty of 1924, they have been subjected to the most arbitrary actions against them" (ibid.). The Turkish Daily News further claimed that "of all of Turkey's communities, the Syrian Orthodox is the most fearful and turned inward, generally suffering reprisals of some sort whenever their complaints are made public" (ibid.).

Estimates of the size of the ethnic Greek community in Turkey vary from 3,000 (AP 30 Mar. 2000) to 4,400 (IND Sept. 1999). Like their Armenian counterparts, most live in Istanbul (ibid.; AP 30 Mar. 2000). According to the IND, "many members of the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey have emigrated, allegedly because of pressure from the Turkish authorities" (Sept. 1999). Country Reports 1999 stated that the Greek Minority High School in Istanbul was damaged as a result of a pipe bomb explosion in October 1999 (2000, section 5).

According to Country Reports 1999, the Romani population in Turkey is "extremely small," and "no incidents of public or government harassment directed against them were reported" (2000, section 5).

Please note that none of the sources consulted by the Research Directorate refers explicitly to the treatment of ethnic minorities on the basis of physical appearance.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Article 19 (International Centre Against Censorship). March-April 1998. "The Future of Freedom of Expression in Turkey." [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Associated Press (AP). 30 March 2000. "Facts and Figures on Turkey's Major Non-Muslim Groups." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. United States Department of State, Washington, DC. 25 February 2000. [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). February 1999. "Turkey: Violations of Free Expression in Turkey." [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home Office, London. September 1999. Turkey Assessment. [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Nas, Çigdem. November 1998. "The Approach of the European Parliament to the Issue of Ethnic Minorities and Minority Rights in Turkey within the Context of the European Minority Rights Sub-Regime." Department of Political Studies, University of Catania, Jean Monnet Working Papers. [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Turkish Daily News [Ankara]. 12 December 1999. "Turkish Society Begins to Learn the Realities of the Country's Past … and its Present." [Accessed 18 May 2000]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases.

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International.

European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)

Freedom House.

Institute on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity (INCORE)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

Minority Electronic Resources (MINELRES)

Minority Rights Group International.

US Committee for Refugees (USCR)