Though Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in the country, the Turkish constitution fails to recognize them as such. The Turkish authorities persecute the Kurds simply for speaking their mother tongue outside of their homes. This year has seen an increase in state-sanctioned human rights abuses:
1. The Turkish authorities have sentenced twenty-two members of a peace delegation from the Makhmoor refugee camp to years of imprisonment. One is currently in jail: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=kurdish-peace-envoys-risk-jail-in-turkey-2010-04-06
2. A fifteen-year-old boy was sentenced to imprisonment for six years, three months and eleven days for allegedly participating in a demonstration last December: https://www.bianet.org/english/children/121099-more-than-6-years-imprisonment-for-15-year-old
3. Journalist Veysi Sarysozen was sentenced to fifteen months of imprisonment for questioning the nature of the Turkish Government’s conflict with the PKK: https://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/121095-writer-sarisozen-sentenced-to-15-months
4. Four politicians of the banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) are on trial for speaking Kurdish: https://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/121050-four-politicians-on-trial-for-speaking-kurdish
5. Six children ranging in age from fifteen to eighteen years are receiving sentences between 7.5 and 13.5 years each for allegedly participating in a demonstration: https://www.bianet.org/english/children/121027-6-children-sentenced-to-7-5-years-in-jail
6. The Turkish authorities banned the Kurdish daily newspaper Azadiya Welat was on the charge of “spreading propaganda for the PKK”: https://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/120988-2-publication-bans-in-3-days-for-kurdish-azadiya-welat-newspaper
7. The Turkish government sentenced former editorial manager for Azadiya Welat, Vedat Kurşun, to three years in prison for “spreading propaganda for the PKK”: https://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/121021-kurdish-journalist-vedat-kursun-sentenced-to-3-years
8. Turkey has requested Predator drones from the United States, after already having purchased six Heron drones from Israel: https://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2009/me_turkey0295_04_13.asp
For more information on the Makhmoor peace delegates, see “IRAQ: Kurdish peace delegation sentenced for promoting peace in Turkey”: https://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2010/04/16/iraq-kurdish-peace-delegation-sentenced-promoting-peace-turkey
CPT-Iraq urges everyone to contact their governments and Turkish Embassies, demanding that the Turkish government cease its human rights abuses of the Kurds.
Addresses:
U.S.A. Embassy of Turkey 2525 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Phone: (202) 612-6700 (202) 612-6701 Fax: (202) 612-6744 E-Mail: contact@turkishembassy.org
CANADA
Embassy of Turkey 197 Wurtemburg Street Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8L9 Phone: +1 613-789-4044 +1 613-789-3440 Fax: +1 613-789-3442 E-Mail: turkishottawa@mfa.gov.tr
U.K.
Embassy of Turkey 43 Belgrave Square London, England SW1X 8PA Phone: 020 7393 0202 Fax: 020 7393 0066
