Turkey transforms itself from rights abuser to rights advocate

    The Human Rights Commission in the Turkish Parliament started documenting rights violations in some European Union member states after its powers were expanded last year to include issues transgressing Turkish borders. Issues ranging from xenophobia to Islamophobia were targeted by the commission, with its focus not limited to immigrants of Turkish descent.

    The commission members have paid visits to four EU member countries so far including Germany, Austria, Belgium and France, with a lukewarm reception in some. “We found in some EU countries that the government agencies were not completely honest about human rights violations and shied away from cooperating with our commission members at times,” Ahmet Gökhan Sarıçam, deputy chairman of the Human Rights Commission, told Sunday’s Zaman. While the commission mainly targets EU countries, it also plans to pay visits to China and the US.

    Sarıçam explained that most violations were recorded as being because of discrimination based on belief or ethnicity, targeting mainly immigrant communities and naturalized citizens. “In our visits to prisons, we saw how differently the prison authorities treated people from minority faith and ethnic groups,” he said, stressing that the practice is simply not compatible with modern EU values. He singled out the German immigration law becoming an egregious source of human rights violations in practice. “The way the German authorities treat members of its immigrant community violates basic human rights there,” he underlined. Akın Birdal, human rights activist and deputy from Diyarbakır for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), who was with the commission members during their fact-finding mission to Germany, believes some provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not applied in European countries.

“We have witnessed that international organizations have failed to effectively monitor rights violations, especially during the post-Cold War era. Hence, the role of individual countries has gained importance in carrying these issues to the global arena,” he told Sunday’s Zaman. “The growing role of Turkey as a player in the advocacy of rights will push the agenda further in Europe and help gain some points on the performance of the human rights record,” he added.

The US joined last Thursday in expressing its woes and growing fears over the treatment of Muslims in Europe, citing in particular a ban on the construction of minarets in Switzerland. “Discrimination against Muslims in Europe has been an increasing concern,” the US State Department said in an annual report. Such developments had occurred in countries with “generally strong records” of respecting human rights, it said. “A recent case that received international attention was the passage in Switzerland of a constitutional amendment banning the construction of minarets,” the report said. Other reports issued by European watchdog groups such as the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, the European Network against Racism and the Runnymede Trust all show that there is widespread Islamophobia in Europe.

Birdal believes Turkey could present itself as a more credible partner on the human rights advocacy platform once it successfully finishes handling its issues at home. “There is a renewed optimism and hope in Turkey that the country is finally facing past injustices endured by different segments in society for a long time,” he underlined. He lamented, however, the lack of understanding on the part of its European partners how Turkey has been able to transform itself in recent years. “It appears some countries use human rights issues as an excuse for bashing others rather than truly committing to preventing rights abuses,” he said.

EU drive helped Turkey

Sarıçam agrees with Birdal and says the newfound courage in Turkey in going after rights abuses in Europe comes from the reform drive on the domestic front. “You need to sweep the dirt from your house first before trying to talk to others about it,” he said, stating the reforms adopted since 2002 for the EU membership drive had helped Turkey to achieve remarkable progress on democratization.

“What we are saying frankly to our partners is that we know we have problems, we are aware of them and doing everything possible to redress grievances. We are no longer making excuses or trying to justify our mistakes. In contrast, some EU member countries try to pretend they have a perfect image with zero problems when it comes to human rights issues. This attitude will not help solve problems in these countries,” Sarıçam explained.

Ahmet Faruk Ünsal, the president of Turkey’s second biggest human rights NGO, the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUMDER), is convinced that there is actually a regression in human rights issues in Europe as a whole. “Especially after the 9/11 tragedy, laws and regulations across Europe have been subjected to revisions for security and safety considerations. But this was done at the expense of human rights. Police practices in the investigation and arrest of alleged criminals were often accused of being in conflict with universal human rights values,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.

Ünsal believes Islamophobia -- being fearful and hateful of Muslims -- gained ground during this era. “Turkey can play a constructive role in helping overcome these superficial fears, and the visits of the Turkish delegation to that effect may actually contribute to improving the rights track record for Europe,” he underlined. In an interview with Sunday’s Zaman back in January, Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland, who leads the largest human rights watchdog in Europe, said Turkey can contribute greatly in overcoming ethnic and religious challenges in Europe.

“It was certainly a historic moment when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] elected its first Muslim president,” he said, referring to the election of Turkish deputy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu earlier this year in Strasbourg. “This has happened for the first time, the first in any European institution,” he noted. Jagland sees the election of Çavuşoğlu as a clear signal that Europe has become a multicultural and multi-religious continent. “It certainly gives us an opportunity to overcome new and old dividing lines in Europe, be they culturally or in terms of religion,” he underlined.

The head of the human rights watchdog strongly believes that issues emanating from multiculturalism and multi-religiosity are high on the agenda in Europe. “The Council of Europe is an excellent forum for trying to bring people together and meeting this challenge,” he said, adding that the timing was just right for a Turk to be elected as the head of the assembly. “He can bring new ideas to the table. It is a great opportunity to work together with him,” Jagland said.

Irking European officials

During visits and fact-finding missions, the members of the Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights Commission were at times greeted with a lukewarm reception. For example, the parliamentary delegation traveled to France last September to examine the problems of Turkish immigrants but cancelled a meeting with Eric Besson, the French minister of immigration, integration, national identity and co-development, in protest of the fact that the French minister allocated extremely little time for the meeting. The commission’s chairman, Zafer Üskül, slammed French authorities for the ill treatment of the Turkish delegation.

“In the end, we have this perception: No such situation would have emerged if it was another commission -- such as foreign affairs, health or agriculture -- visiting and discussing some technical issues. But the Human Rights Commission’s visit to France, so to say, led to some annoyance. ‘How can the Human Rights Commission of a country like Turkey come and examine France?’ It was not expressed this way, but it was sort of hidden in their general manner,” Üskül said.

Ironically enough, however, most problems the Turkish community faces in France echo the ones that were being experienced in Turkey as well. The report issued by the visiting parliamentary Human Rights Commission documented that Turks in France who complained of human rights violations faced discrimination due to being Alevi, Kurdish or for wearing a headscarf. When Turks complained about the French headscarf ban in public buildings, French officials pointed out that the same situation exists in Turkey. The report harshly criticized France for its discrimination against minorities. “Turkey’s treatment of and behavior towards its own citizens affects the official position in France. It creates grounds and legitimacy for discriminatory policies in France,” the report said.