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 Chronicle of Higher Education
>From the issue dated July 19, 2002

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  Silenced Minority
In Turkey, Kurds are arrested for trying to study their own language

By BURTON BOLLAG


Diyarbakir, Turkey
The police here in southeastern Turkey will no longer arrest someone =
simply=20
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ALSO SEE:

Clash of Turkish Leaders Stalls Higher-Education Reform

MULTIMEDIA: A video report on the fight by Kurdish students in Turkey =
to
study their national language at universities. Requires RealPlayer. (To
obtain the software, visit the Real Networks Web site. Additional help =
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http://service.real.com)


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for speaking Kurdish. But when university students across the country
circulated petitions, requesting optional courses on the Kurdish =
language,
the authorities clamped down hard.

More than 1,300 students have been detained by police -- often while =
trying
to present the signed petitions to the rectors of the universities they
attend. According to human-rights activists, more than 200 students =
have
been accused of violating anti-terrorist laws. Often the formal charge =
is
supporting an illegal organization, in this case the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK.

Three years ago, after the PKK's leader, Abdullah =D6calan, was =
captured and
sentenced to death -- a sentence not yet carried out -- the group =
called off
a bloody 15-year rebellion for self-rule for the Kurdish-populated
southeastern region of the country. But the Kurds, who make up about 20
percent of Turkey's 65 million people, continue pressing for more =
rights.

The students who have been arrested recently are being tried at special
state-security courts across Turkey and face a maximum prison sentence =
of
seven and a half years. In separate university disciplinary actions, =
about
300 students have been expelled or suspended from their studies.

"I can speak Kurdish, but I can't read Kurdish poetry or literature," =
says
Harun Ece, a student of archival science, at Marmara University, in
Istanbul. The university suspended Mr. Ece for a year for circulating a
petition favoring Kurdish courses. Mr. Ece is also one of 28 students =
being
tried together in a state security court in Istanbul for their role in =
the
petition drive. "Unless we can study it," he says, "Kurdish language =
and
culture will disappear."

History of Oppression

Since the founding of the modern Turkish republic, in 1923, the =
authorities
have tried to wipe out the distinct identity of the Kurds, Turkey's =
largest
minority. Until a change in legislation, in 1991, the use of Kurdish =
was
totally banned in numerous situations, such as speaking or singing in
public, and publishing.

Kurds live in neighboring parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, where they =
have
also suffered repression, with the exception of a portion of Iraq that =
Kurds
control with the help of the United Nations. Yet only Turkey, home to =
the
largest Kurdish population, has gone to great lengths to eradicate the
Kurds' culture.=20

Today officials sometimes try to justify the ban on the use of Kurdish =
in
education by claiming the language is too primitive. According to =
Nurset
Aras, a professor of medicine and rector of the University of Ankara,
"Kurdish is not a true language. It is not adequate for academic =
education."

Linguists dismiss the notion. Indeed, Kurdish has a literary tradition =
that
goes back at least three and a half centuries. Mem =FB Z=EEn, the names =
of two
lovers, is an epic story of tragic love written by the Kurdish poet and
Muslim scholar Ehmed=EE Xan=EE at the end of the 17th century. It is =
considered
one of the greatest classics of Kurdish literature.=20

Kurdish is closely related to Persian, the language of Iran, but =
unrelated
to Turkish. The language is taught today at several European =
universities.

In the last few years, the harshest restrictions on speaking and =
publishing
in Kurdish have been relaxed, and something of a cultural renaissance =
is
under way. Young people gather in Kurdish cafes to drink strong tea and
listen to a blend of modern and traditional Kurdish music and discuss =
the
growing number of Kurdish books sold legally.

The petition campaign began last fall, shortly after a key change to
Turkey's Constitution. In October, in response to urging by the =
European
Union, Turkey amended its Constitution to end a ban on broadcasting in
languages other than Turkish. So far, however the government has =
authorized
very little Kurdish-language programming.

In November, a group of students at Istanbul University started =
collecting
signatures from their classmates on an appeal for optional Kurdish =
courses.
Within weeks, students at about half of Turkey's 53 public universities =
did
the same. Despite the threat of expulsion, about 12,000 students across
Turkey have signed a petition.=20

A few students subsequently withdrew their names under pressure from =
the
authorities.

At the same time, some parents circulated petitions asking for Kurdish
lessons in their children's public schools. Some of the parents have =
also
been arrested.

Mistreatment of students in police custody appears to have been =
widespread,
especially outside the largest city, Istanbul. Many complain of having =
been
blindfolded during questioning, and of being hit by police demanding =
that
they admit they were following the orders of the PKK.

According to Amnesty International, M=FCrsel Sargut, a 19-year-old =
literature
student at Istanbul University who was arrested last November 30, was
tortured while in police custody. He was allegedly stripped and sprayed =
with
pressurized water and then raped with a nightstick by police after he
refused to "confess" to being a member of the PKK.

Orhan Tung, press counselor at the Turkish Embassy in London, says that =
"80
to 90 percent" of allegations of mistreatment are fabrications. Yet he
admits that the Turkish security forces have a history of abusing =
prisoners.
"There has been steady improvement over the last five or six years," he
says. "We admit we still have a long way to go."

Indicted students in Diyarbakir and Istanbul questioned recently by a
reporter said they circulated the petitions on their own initiative and =
had
no contact with the PKK. "It is not important who organized it," says =
Tahir
El=E7i, a human-rights lawyer representing three of the charged =
students in
Diyarbakir. "The right to petition the government is guaranteed by the
Constitution."

Accusations of Terrorism

Prime Minister B=FClent Ecevit set the tone of the response to the =
petition
drive earlier this year when he denounced demands for Kurdish study at
schools and universities as "aimed at dividing Turkey." He added, "We =
cannot
accept it. It's impossible."

The authorities justify the crackdown on students by saying it is =
necessary
to prevent moves toward a breakup of Turkey. A government-sponsored
declaration that the rectors of all 77 public and private universities =
were
required to sign in February claims the petitions represent a =
continuation
of the PKK's rebellion by nonmilitary means. "The right of petition is =
being
exploited as an insidious substitute for murder and terror," it says.

The declaration goes on to state that if students cannot be persuaded =
to
withdraw their support for the petition, they will be considered
"accomplices within our universities of the terrorist network."

Only a handful of faculty members have protested the policy. Those who =
have
spoken out are generally academics with domestic or international
reputations big enough to provide a degree of protection from dismissal =
or
prosecution. Mehmet Altan, a professor of economics at Istanbul =
University
and a frequent commentator on Turkish television, rejects the =
authorities'
argument that repression is needed to keep Turkey from being torn =
apart.
"It's just the opposite," he says.=20

"Only democracy can maintain the integrity of the country."

The decision to deal with the petition drive so harshly has =
disappointed
those calling for conciliatory steps to end the threat of renewed =
fighting
in the southeast. Human-rights activists, trade unionists, and other
political moderates favor a more democratic and less militaristic =
approach
to the Kurds. The Turkish government's harsh approach to the =
petitioners has
also placed additional embarrassing obstacles in the way of its efforts =
to
join the European Union.=20

Before the European Union will invite Turkey to join, it is demanding
"respect and protection of minorities, including the right to have =
education
and broadcasting in their own language," says Jean-Christophe Filori, =
the
spokesman on enlargement issues for the European Commission, the =
executive
body of the European Union. But Turkey has shown "no flexibility on the
education issue," he says.

The European Union's 15 members have a checkered history of policies =
toward
the languages of their own minority groups. Until a few decades ago, =
some
countries -- France is a prime example -- were hostile toward minority
languages and banned their use in public schools. But "in the last 20 =
years
in Europe there has been a great flowering of support for minority
languages," says Robert Dunbar, a lecturer in law at the University of
Glasgow, in Scotland, and a specialist in language rights. French =
public
schools in regions with minority populations now provide optional =
lessons in
the local regional language, like Basque, Breton, or Corsican.

Banned Lessons

In Turkey, however, even private Kurdish lessons remain illegal. =
"Turkey
appears to be the only European state which prohibits teaching in a =
minority
language," says Mr. Dunbar. In February he took part in an eight-day
fact-finding visit to Turkey organized by the Kurdish Human Rights =
Project,
an independent, London-based group. The resulting report, which he =
co-wrote,
is highly critical of Turkey's language policy.

No Turkish university has been allowed to teach or carry out research =
into
Kurdish language, literature, or culture. The Kurdish Institute, a =
small
independent research center established in Istanbul in 1992, is legal =
but is
constantly harassed by the authorities. The police sealed the =
institute's
offices for four months this year after prosecutors charged the =
institute's
managers with the criminal offense of providing Kurdish-language =
lessons. A
judge recently exonerated them.

Hasan Kaya, a former schoolteacher dismissed for promoting the Kurdish
language, is chairman of the institute. He says "no Turkish academics =
are
allowed to participate in Kurdish-language research, but a few foreign
scholars come here regularly and quietly carry out their research."

Sefa =D6zt=FCrk was suspended for three months from her studies at =
Yildiz
Technical University, in Istanbul, for supporting the petition =
campaign.=20

University administrators informed her that she was being punished for
"threatening the indivisible unity of the country," the reason given =
many of
the other suspended students.

But unlike most of the other students who have been punished, Ms. =
=D6zt=FCrk is
an ethnic Turk. After she was charged with the criminal offense of
supporting an illegal organization, her parents broke off relations =
with
her. But Ms. =D6zt=FCrk says she does not regret her actions.

"For me the idea that a person should have the right to an education in
their mother tongue is fundamental," she says. "I did what was right, =
and my
conscience is clear."

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