Human Rights Violation in Turkey: Rethinking
Transkript
Human Rights Violation in Turkey: Rethinking
Notes 1. In a paper given by Alfred Marshall to the Cambridge ‘Reform Club’ on 25 November 1873, Alfred Marshall stated the following: ‘The question is not whether all men will ultimately be equal – that they certainly will not – but whether progress may not go on steadily, if slowly, till the official distinction between working man and gentleman has passed away; till, by occupation at least, every man is a gentleman. I hold that it may, and that it will’ ([1873] 1925: 102). Indeed, Marshall’s linking of economics with ideas of universality is further evidenced at the beginning of one of Alfred Marshall’s most prominent works, Principles of Economics, which states ‘POLITICAL ECONOMY or ECONOMICS is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of the material requisites of well being’ ([1920] 1997: 1, italics added). 2. Malcolm Waters, for example, notes that ‘If global society were to collapse into a mosaic of localised and relatively isolated political entities, under conditions, say of global economic or ecological catastrophe, then human rights would be the first casualty’ (Waters 1996: 599). 1 The Sociological Portrayal in Context 1. ‘Membership requires that the candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for the protection of minorities’. The full text of the Copenhagen criteria can be accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/enlargement_ process/accession_process/criteria/index_en.htm, date accessed 1 May 2012. 2. Regularly updates information can be found on the European Court of Human rights website http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/Homepage_EN http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/C2E5DFA6-B53C-42D2-8512-034 BD3C889B0/0/FICHEPARPAYS_ENG_MAI2010.pdf, date accessed 1 May 2012. 3. The 1996 Susurluk scandal occured after a car crash killing a police chief and a Kurdish mafia boss at a time when the government had been suspected of a ‘dirty war’ against Kurdish sympathisers (Zürcher 2004: 322). The existence of the Ergenekon organisation began to be suspected in 2008 in which high level government officials were allegedly planning the overthrow of the AKP government. 174 10.1057/9781137317155 - Human Rights Violation in Turkey, David Straw Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to npg - PalgraveConnect - 2016-10-12 Introduction 175 4. Partiya Karakarên Kurdistan (Kurdish Workers’ Party). 5. See the European Commission’s ‘Turkey 2011 Progress Report’, which cites some of these shortcomings. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/ key_documents/2011/package/tr_rapport_2011_en.pdf, date accessed 1 May 2012. 6. This related to objections over the AKP’s intention to allow students wearing headscarves to enter University. 7. Bu zaten gelenekten gelen bir şeydir. Ama bunu minimize etmek, mumkünse yok etmek, bunu başarmak gerekir. 8. ‘Işte Ergenekon Şeması’. Radikal, 27 July 2008. 9. ‘Barack Obama Brands Armenian Killings “Great Atrocities”’. The Guardian, 24 April 2009. 10. ‘Yavuz Önen: Polis Gözaltında Organ Parçalıyor’. Taraf, 3 November 2008. 11. Türkiye Insan Hakları Vakfı. 12. ‘Chaos as Rescuers Fly In’. The Guardian, 2 August 1999. 13. ‘The Armenian Question’. Zaman, 20 October 2006. 14. ‘Emperyalizimin oyuncağı Ermeni sorunu’. Hurriyet, 14 June 2009. 15. ‘Ne Var Ne Yok’. SkyTurk, 13 October 2006. On this program Nihat Genç comments on Orhan Pamuk’s Winning of the Nobel Prize: ‘Türkiye’nin kaderi, bu ülke’nin siyaseti, bu ülkeyi arkadan hançerleme gibi, yani, sana diyorlar ‘Şunu söylese ödül verelim., Bu kadar olmaz: halkını satıyorsun, tarihini satıyorsun, insanlarına karşı cıkıyorsun’. Turkey’s destiny, the politics of this country, like an attack from behind, in other words, if they say to you, ‘say this (admit the Armenian Genocide) and we’ll give you the (Nobel) prize’ that is unacceptable. You’re selling out on your country, you’re selling out on your history; you’re opposing your own people (parenthesis added). 16. ‘What is Turkish for Genocide?’ The Times, 18 June 2005. 2 The Emergence of Human Rights 1. For example, Karl Marx is sometimes translated as speaking of human rights when referring to the rights of man – one rendering of On the Jewish Question being an example (McLellan 2000). 3 A Theory of Human Rights 1. This is a term that refers to the idea that man has a natural disposition towards economic behaviour and that, in the words of Adam Smith, ‘it is by treaty, by barter, and by purchase that we obtain from one another the greater part of those mutual good offices which we stand in need of’ ([1776] 1999: 119). 2. See Introduction. 3. The term ‘violation’ here refers both to acts of human rights abuse such as genocide or the denial of freedom of conscience as well as the absence of the societal conditions, which have been already identified in this chapter as supporting the possibility of human rights institutionalisation that is a free market supported by a reduced state. 10.1057/9781137317155 - Human Rights Violation in Turkey, David Straw Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to npg - PalgraveConnect - 2016-10-12 Notes 176 Notes 1. din olarak benimsedikleri şeylerde gayrimuslumanları serbest bırakılması. 2. ‘Behind the Billboard Lies the True Struggle for Turkey’. The Guardian, 6 May 2007. 3. The definition of genocide, according to the ‘1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ can be found at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/genocide.htm, date accessed 1 May 2012. 4. ‘The time for general revolution (in Armenia) will be when a foreign power attacks Turkey externally. The party shall revolt internally’ (Lewy 2005: 12, parenthesis added). 5 Responsibility 1. This reflects the idea of the division of labour discussed in Chapter 3. 2. See websites of MÜSIAD www.musiad.org.tr, date accessed 1 May 2012 and TÜSIAD www.tusiad.org.tr, date accessed 1 May 2012. 3. ‘Arrests mark fresh phase in Turkey’s struggle’. Financial Times, 3 July 2008. 4. ‘Türkiye AB yüzünden bu hale geldi’. Radikal, 3 July 2008. 5. ‘Akıl Defteri’. Mehtap TV, 18 May 2009. On this program the subject of ‘bedelli askerlik’ (paying to avoid military service) was discussed. 6. ‘Dalan’ın muhasebecisi kayıplara karıştı’. Radikal, 5 August 2009. 7. Turkish Radio Television (Türk Radyo ve Televizyonu). 8. ‘301’. Radikal, 26 January 2007. Murat Belge’s original Turkish comments in this article: ‘Kerinçsiz gibi aşırıya kaçan safraları her zaman atabiliriz arabamızdan.’ 9. ‘Turkey Names New Military Chiefs’. The Guardian, 4 August 2011. 6 Resolution 1. See ‘Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ at http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html, date accessed 1 May 2012. 2. www.ozurdiliyoruz.com, date accessed 1 May 2012. 3. ‘Beyin Fırtınası’. HaberTürk, 8 September 2008. 4. Türk Devletine vatandaşlık bağı ile bağlı olan herkes Türktür. 5. ‘Armenians look to Bush to step up Pressure over 1915 “genocide” ’. The Guardian, 23 April 2005. 6. ‘Turkey Warns France Over Armenian Genocide Law’. The Guardian, 24 January 2012. 7. www.ozurbekliyoruz.com, date accessed 3 January 2009. 8. ‘Bush warns Congress not to recognise Armenian “genocide” ’. The Guardian, 10 October 2007. 10.1057/9781137317155 - Human Rights Violation in Turkey, David Straw Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to npg - PalgraveConnect - 2016-10-12 4 Transition to ‘Equality’ Notes 177 7 Preservation 1. ‘Amnesty warns US and UK are failing to monitor flood of arms into Iraq’. The Guardian, 17 September 2008. 2. ‘Morning conference: the modernisation of Turkey’. The Guardian, 26 February 2008. This article describes the reconstruction of the Hadith and the removal from it of mysogynistic sayings. 3. Alternatif Insan Hakları Kuramı. 4. Insan Hakları ve Islam. 5. ‘Turkey goes to polls in war of the veil’. The Times, July 22 2007. 6. ‘Not quite the Reformation’. The Guardian, February 29 2008. 7. ‘Türk demokrasisi olgunluk sınavını başarıyla tamamladı’. Radikal, 30 July 2008. 8. ‘AB’ye uygun olarak Anayasa değiştirilmeli’. Radikal, 30 July 2008. 9. ‘Merkez Bankası’nın tespiti: Işsizlik üç ayda Zirveyi Bulur’. Radikal, 4 March 2009. ‘İşsizlikle mücadele artık bu istihdam yasalarında yapılacak bazı önlemler olmaz. Asıl işsizlikle mücadele, ekonominin soğumamasından, yatırımların bu kadar durmamasından, daralmamasından geçiyor’. 10. Yeni bir Ana Yasa için Görüş ve Öneriler. 11. ‘Devletin ekonomik görevinin düşük enflasyonda yüksek istihdamı ve ekonomik büyümeyi sağlamak’. 12. www.musiad.org.tr/Anayasa/Default.html, date accessed 1 May 2012. 13. ‘MÜSIAD ve TÜSIAD’in Tavrı’. Taraf, 20 August 2009. 14. ‘MÜSIAD pays TÜSIAD historic visit to discuss joint projects’. Today’s Zaman, 14 May 2010. Conclusion 1. For example, Balakian (2009) presents a strong argument that Talaat Pasha, the leader of the CUP, was the main architect of – if it is proven to be so – the Armenian Genocide. Andrew Mango has noted that even the thought of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, ‘was contaminated by doctrines of ethnic and racial superiority current in the contemporary West’ (2004: xi). 10.1057/9781137317155 - Human Rights Violation in Turkey, David Straw Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to npg - PalgraveConnect - 2016-10-12 9. ‘Bush reels as Armenian Genocide vote passed’. The Guardian, 10 October 2007. 10. In the words of Adam Smith ‘Man has constant need for the help of his brethren, and it is vain to expect it from his benevolence only’ (1999: 119). 11. ‘Descendants of Armenian Genocide victims seek $65 million from Turkey for seized land’. Los Angeles Times, 15 December 2010. 12. ‘Talaat Pasha slain in New York suburb’. New York Times, 16 March 1921.