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Minorities in the Education System of Turkey by Nurcan Kaya Children Line up for Morning Assembly at a Kurdish Village School in Kars Province

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Minorities in the Education System of Turkey by Nurcan Kaya Children Line up for Morning Assembly at a Kurdish Village School in Kars Province report Forgotten or Assimilated? Minorities in the Education System of Turkey by Nurcan Kaya Children line up for morning assembly at a Kurdish village school in Kars province. George Georgiou / Panos Pictures. Acknowledgements The author thanks all minority members and experts who This report was prepared and published as part of a project contributed to the writing of this report by giving interviews, entitled ‘Combating discrimination and promoting minority sharing their feelings and comments, providing documents rights in Turkey’. This report was prepared with the financial and information; and all volunteers and MRG staff for all support of the EU. The contents of the document are entirely sorts of assistance. the responsibility of the project partners, and in no way represent the views of the EU. For further information about the EU, please visit the official website of the Union: Minority Rights Group International http://europa.eu/index_en.htm Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is a non- governmental organization (NGO) working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide, and to promote cooperation and understanding between communities. Our activities are focused on international advocacy, training, publishing and outreach. We are guided by the needs expressed by our worldwide partner network of organizations, which represent Report commissioned by Preti Taneja. Edited by Sophie minority and indigenous peoples. Richmond. Production coordinator: Paolo Gerbaudo. MRG works with over 150 organizations in nearly 50 The author countries. Our governing Council, which meets twice a year, Nurcan Kaya is a lawyer specializing in human rights – in has members from 10 different countries. MRG has particular minority rights, equality, anti-discrimination consultative status with the United Nations Economic and remedies under international human rights and European Social Council (ECOSOC), and observer status with the Union law – and violence against women. She holds an LLM African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in international human rights law from the University of (ACHPR). MRG is registered as a charity and a company Essex. She has been working as the Turkey Programme limited by guarantee under English law. Registered charity Coordinator at MRG since January 2006. no. 282305, limited company no. 1544957. © Minority Rights Group International 2009 All rights reserved Material from this publication may be reproduced for teaching or for other non-commercial purposes. No part of it may be reproduced in any form for commercial purposes without the prior express permission of the copyright holders. For further information please contact MRG. A CIP catalogue record of this publication is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-904584-84-1. Published January 2009. Typeset Kavita Graphics. Printed in the UK on recycled paper. Forgotten or Assimilated? Minorities in the Education System of Turkey is published by MRG as a contribution to public understanding of the issue which forms its subject. The text and views of the author do not necessarily represent in every detail and in all its aspects, the collective view of MRG. Forgotten or Assimilated? Minorities in the Education System of Turkey by Nurcan Kaya Contents Dedication 2 Abbreviations 3 Executive summary 4 Map 5 Introduction 6 Main education rights issues in Turkey 11 Language and education 14 Teaching religion in schools 20 Discrimination in school books and education 24 Ways forward 28 Recommendations 29 Notes 32 This report is dedicated to Hrant Dink ‘ … But later ... We grew afraid of each other, and could no longer share our jokes. So much of the richness of our lives was sacrificed for Unity, so much joy. Can we recapture those days? Where do we have to start, in order to get them back again? Suppose we were to put aside the fear-laden word “politics” and begin instead with education? What if we put lessons in our textbooks which will always remind us of our diversity? Maybe we should start with the alphabet. And add, alongside “Ali, throw the ball to Veli,” “Ali, throw the ball to Hagop …”’ Hrant Dink, ‘Farklılaşsak da fıkralaşsak’, 4 June 2004, AGOS 2 FORGOTTEN OR ASSIMILATED? MINORITIES IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF TURKEY Abbreviations AKP Justice and Development Party (Turkey) ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social CHP Republican People’s Party (Turkey) and Cultural Rights CoE Council of Europe LPP Law on Political Parties (Turkey) CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child NGO non-governmental organization ECHR European Convention for the Protection of Human OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Rights and Fundamental Freedoms PKK Kurdistan Workers’ Party ECtHR European Court of Human Rights UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights ECRI European Commission against Racism and Intolerance UN United Nations EU European Union UNDM United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons FCNM Framework Convention for the Protection of Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and National Minorities Linguistic Minorities GÖÇ-DER Association for Immigrants, Social Assistance UNDP United Nations Development Programme and Culture (Turkey) UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific HRC Human Rights Committee and Cultural Organization ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund FORGOTTEN OR ASSIMILATED? MINORITIES IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF TURKEY 3 Executive summary Since the Turkish Republic was established in 1923, and hundreds of children unable to go to school. A survey minorities have been perceived as a threat to the ‘indivisible of Kurdish families displaced by conflict in the 1990s integrity of the state with its territory and nation’ enshrined showed that in areas such as Diyarbakır and Istanbul, in the Turkish Constitution. This idea has had a grave more than half of the displaced children did not attend impact on generations of minorities in accessing their fun- any schools, mainly due to poverty and the need to work. damental rights in Turkey, including their education rights. These factors also affect the thousands of children forced Today, many members of minority communities feel to undertake seasonal agricultural work in Turkey, a large that the Turkish education system works to assimilate proportion of who come from predominantly Kurdish them. Turkish identity and nationalism are promoted as areas. Due to spending months away from home, these fundamental values while distinct minority cultures, his- girls and boys, some of whom are as young as 11 years tory and religions are ignored. Because Turkey recognizes old, have severe difficulty continuing with their educa- only Armenians, Jews and Rums as minorities, no other tion. Poverty prevents many Roma children in Istanbul, minorities have the right to open their own schools. No for example, from accessing school beyond third grade. minority language can be used at public schools as the Although Turkey has ratified international treaties language of instruction; and none of these languages can including the International Covenant on Economic, be taught at public or private schools as a selective lan- Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on guage course. Minority students face discrimination the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International within the education system: for example, only Christians Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial and Jews are permitted to opt out of the mandatory class Discrimination (ICERD) and the International Covenant on religious culture and ethics. Even they must disclose on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), it has put reserva- their belief. This is prohibited by international treaties tions on provisions that are relevant to minority rights and Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution. Furthermore, and minorities’ right to education. And although it has despite guidelines issued by the National Ministry of Edu- taken some steps towards improving the education of cation in Turkey which emphasize a critical and pluralistic children, including a campaign specifically targeting girls, outlook in the mandatory religion class, only a small per- none of these measures (some taken in cooperation with centage of textbooks and classroom instruction deals with international agencies) have specifically targeted disadvan- religions other than Islam. Minority pupils in this class taged groups such as Roma, displaced children and those have reportedly been asked to observe Muslim rituals that undertaking seasonal work. There has also been an his- are not listed in the curriculum, such as performing ablu- toric lack of consultation with minorities as to what tions, prayer and attending mosque. measures should be taken to promote and protect their These conditions exacerbate the discrimination, access to education rights. harassment and humiliation that children from minority But recognition of minorities’ existence and guarantee- communities face. They often hide their ethnic and reli- ing their rights – including, but not limited to, education gious identities. Many minorities fear that ultimately rights – will not only ensure preservation of minorities’ their distinct identities will disappear. distinct identities, it will also contribute to conflict resolu- Though
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