The Assimilation Policy of Turkey Continues

2-11-2008
AINA, CA
By Orom Lahdo
EasternStar New Agency
On November 24, 1934, Turkey introduced the surname act. In Turkey, this law is called "Soyadi kanunu". The purpose of this law was to force all groups of people, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, to assume a Turkish last name. This law is still applied today, and it is strictly forbidden for Christians or any ethnic minorities to assume "non-Turkish names". These names are by law prohibited in Turkey.

Nuri Amno (formerly Aktas), an Assyrian from the city of Midyat, is today a Swiss citizen. He changed back the Turkish last name Aktas, which was forced on his family, to Amno, when he was granted Swiss citizenship. In order to do the same change in Turkey, the barrister Rudi Sümer in Midyat was hired.

Nuri Amno (formerly Aktas), who through his double citizenship also is registered in the municipality of Midyat, applied in the summer of 2007 to have his enforced Turkish last name "Aktas" changed back to Amno, which is the last name that his grandfather and generations before him had used before the compulsory legislation was introduced in 1934.

Sümer handed in an application for a change of the last name Aktas to Amno to a Turkish court of law. The application was refused be the court, which motivated its decision with support of the Turkish law of names, saying that "the new last name must originate from the Turkish language" and that "it is not permitted to assume names from foreign races or nations". The quotes are from law no 2552 § (3.7) in the Turkish Law.

Sümer appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court of Turkey (Yargitay), which established the decision of the lower courts. Sümer says that this decision is in contradiction to 10 § in the Turkish constitution, which stipulates "everybody's equal value before the law, irrespective of race, religion or e thnicity." After the decision of the Supreme Court, there are no higher instances to appeal to in Turkey. Sümer has therefore appealed to the court of the European Union, the court for human rights, in Strasbourg.

This is the first time an Assyrian appeals a decision made by a Turkish court to the European court in Strasbourg. The case is the first of its kind, and could become a precedent. According to Sümer, similar cases are usually taking five years before a decision is announced by the European court. The case was taken by the court in 2007.

By Orom Lahdo
EasternStar New Agency

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Turkey investigating police role in murders

Dec. 8, 2007
CTV
Source: The Associated Press

ANKARA -- Turkey has launched an investigation into alleged collusion between police officers and at least one of the suspects charged with killing three Christians earlier this year at a publishing house that produces Bibles, an official said Saturday.

Two senior police inspectors will be assigned to investigate whether any officers provided assistance to the suspects, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not provide further details.

The three Christians -- a German and two Turks -- were killed in the southern city of Malatya on April 18. The killings -- in which the victims were tied up and had their throats slit -- drew international condemnation and added to Western concerns about whether Turkey can protect its religious minorities.

Five people were arrested and charged with murder. The trial opened last month, but was quickly adjourned until Jan. 14 because defence lawyers requested more time to prepare their arguments.

The Interior Ministry decided to open an investigation after several newspapers published stories Saturday alleging co-operation between police and at least one of the suspects.

Radikal newspaper quoted two of the suspects, Abuzer Yildirim and Salih Guler, as saying in their testimonies that a third suspect Emre Gunaydin told them that he had met with police officials and learned about the locations of Christian churches in the city.

"I asked him who are the police chiefs that you are speaking to, he said: 'Don't ask, take it easy,''' Radikal quoted Yildirim as saying.

Similar allegations have also emerged after the January killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, who was detested by hardline nationalists because he described the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.

Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, insisting those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Critics have accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot to kill Dink but there has been no evidence that directly implicates any police or government officials in the slaying of Dink outside his office.

Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state'' -- a network of state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime -- periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the name of nationalism.

Christian leaders have said they are worried that nationalists are stoking hostility against non-Turks and non-Muslims by exploiting uncertainty over Turkey's place in the world.

The uncertainty -- and growing suspicion against foreigners -- has been driven by Turkey's faltering EU membership bid, a resilient Kurdish separatist movement and by increasingly vocal Islamists who see themselves -- and Turkey -- as locked in battle with a hostile Christian West.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

To the Turkish people from their European friends

May 16, 2007
IHT

In recent days Turkey's citizens have been carefully watching the reactions of politicians across Europe and the United States to the memorandum by the Turkish military issued on April 27. In these fraught circumstances, it is vital to send an unambiguous message to Turkish society. We strongly regret this intervention that could harm Turkey's progress as well as its relations with the European Union.

The EU decided to open negotiations with Turkey as a result of a striking sequence of reforms that led the European Commission in 2004 to declare that Turkey substantially met the so-called political Copenhagen criteria. One of these criteria is respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Another is a functioning democracy, including as a basic principle, full civilian control over the armed forces. The intervention by the military on April 27 throws Turkey's compliance into doubt.

The Turkish military justified this by the need to defend "Turkish secularism." However, the threat to secularism has been overstated. In fact, Turkey has undertaken a number of important reforms, in sectors ranging from women's rights to education, which provide legal protection for secular values. Much remains to be done - including removing the penal code's restrictions on freedom of speech and working to close the gender gap - and we call on the Turkish authorities to vigorously pursue the reform path. But Turkish legislation has never been closer to European standards than today, and many of these changes have been brought about under the current government.

We believe that it is up to the Turkish political process, and to Turkish civil society, to express the preferences of the Turkish public. Large demonstrations, challenges of political decisions in courts and political campaigns are all acceptable tactics in democratic politics. We understand those who are concerned about the concentration of power, but this should not be taken as an excuse for the military to limit democratic government.

Finally, we call on European governments to reaffirm the promises and commitments that the EU has made in the past. Turkey still has much to do before it meets European standards, but by showing solidarity with Turkish democrats, the EU can now help to keep the process on track.

Urban Ahlin, deputy chairman, foreign affairs committee, Swedish Parliament; Hans van den Broek, former foreign minister of the Netherlands; Daniel Cohn-Bendit, member of European Parliament; José Cutileiro, former secretary general, WEU; Marta Dassù, Aspen Institute Italia; Andrew Duff, member of European Parliament; Sarmite Elerte, editor, Diena; Michael Emerson, Center for European Policy Studies; Joschka Fischer, former foreign minister of Germany; Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford University; Teresa Patrício Gouveia, former foreign minister of Portugal; Charles Grant, Center for European Reform; Diego Hidalgo, FRIDE; Michiel van Hulten, former chair of the Dutch Labor Party; Josef Janning, Bertelsmann Foundation; Dan Jørgensen, member of European Parliament; Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics; Lord Kinnock of Bedwellty, former EU Commissioner; Gerald Knaus, European Stability Initiative; Ivan Krastev, Center for Liberal Strategies; Joost Lagendijk, member of European Parliament; Mark Leonard, European Council on Foreign Relations; Alain Minc, chairman of Le Monde and head of AM Conseil; Antonio Missiroli, European Policy Center; Giles Merritt, Friends of Europe; Kalypso Nicolaidis, University of Oxford; Cem Özdemir, member of European Parliament; Ana Palacio, former foreign minister of Spain; Diana Pinto, historian; Narcis Serra, former vice president of Spain; Aleksander Smolar, Stefan Batory Foundation; Dana Spinant, European Voice; Antonio Vitorino, former EU Commissioner; Gijs de Vries, former EU counter-terrorism coordinator; Stephen Wall, former adviser to the British prime minister.the crowd on global warming . . .. . . but his plan for AIDS is worthy of supportA new path for health care


Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.