 |
Government accelerates democratization, observers skeptical
“When there are conflicts regarding security and freedom, the government prefers the security axis,” said Öztürk Türkdoğan, chairman of the Human Rights Association (İHD). The government has launched an initiative to solve the Kurdish question, with Interior Minister Beşir Atalay its coordinator but has been under fire since it has yet to take any major concrete steps towards democratization.
“Turkey tried to solve this problem from a security perspective, but it was not helpful at all,” said Türkdoğan.
Sezgin Tanrıkulu, former chairman of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, underlined that there are no obstacles before the government for any kind of security operation and that it is hard to understand what the aim of creating an undersecretariat of security and public order is.
“Do they want to appoint a martial law governor to Ankara?” he asked.
During the 1990s martial law was implemented in mostly Kurdish-populated areas, and regional governors with extraordinary powers were appointed. Martial law was abolished after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power.
The undersecretariat will ensure coordination among the different institutions including the General Staff, the police forces and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) dealing with terrorism. It will also develop strategies for fighting terrorism.
Government sources underline that with this undersecretariat, which will operate under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, the fight against terrorism will become more civilian.
Atalay frequently emphasized that the basic aim of the initiative is more freedom and democracy for everyone and the elimination of terror. “We want to create an atmosphere in which all views can be expressed without violence and terror and also eradicate all areas that are open to abuse and would lead to separation and polarization. When violence talks, ideas are silenced. We want to change that,” he had said several times.
As part of the democratization process the government also announced that several independent bodies would be established to promote and ensure human rights, including a law to establish an independent body to work to eliminate discrimination.
This draft is expected to be sent to Parliament soon, but there is no timetable yet regarding other steps such changing the structure of the Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Directorate to make it more independent and the approval of United Nations protocols on the prevention of torture. Another independent body that will be set up to monitor all complaints about security forces, especially related to violations of human rights, is still expected.
Emin Aktar, the chairman of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, said all the expected changes regarding the establishment of these independent bodies are related to democratization and promises Turkey gave the EU but not directly linked with a solution to the Kurdish problem.
“The government had promised to change place names to their original Kurdish and also mentioned removing the obstacles before using Kurdish in political campaigning. These have yet to be fulfilled,” Aktar underlined.
He stated that the government withdrew a bill that would not charge children who argue or fight with law enforcement during demonstrations as adults. These children are known as the “stone-throwing children” and are tried as adults due to the Law on Counterterrorism and the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The draft, which envisages trying these children in juvenile courts, has been withdrawn from the Justice Commission and according to government sources could appear on the agenda next month.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ARZU KAYA URANLI |  |
||
| On Memorial Day a few words to make your day memorable | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| CUMALİ ÖNAL |  |
||
| Critical months for Egypt | |||
| DOĞU ERGİL |  |
||
| Qualities of power | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| JOOST LAGENDIJK |  |
||
| Europe can’t have it all. Or can it? | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| MELİH ARAT |  |
||
| Handmade | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
