Turkey’s accession to the EU – Blind spot for the European Union
Non-Muslim minorities in Turkey as targets of a recent hate campaign
Thus was the title of a
Press Conference held in the Residence Palace – International Press
Center in Brussels (22 September 2004). The event, which attracted
more than 20 journalists, was organized by the Working Group
Recognition – Against Genocide, for International Understanding (Berlin),
the Switzerland-Armenia Association (Bern)
and The Assembly of Armenians of Europe.
The first two
organizations mentioned above, initiated a Memorandum that was
submitted to the attention of the European Council, Council of the
European Union, members of the European Commission and European
Parliament. The Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Association,
Föderation der Aramäer (Suryoye) in Deutschland e.V. and
Syriac Universal Alliance were among the cosignatories.
Will the European
Commission, in its report of October 6, 2004, consider Turkey as
‘ready’ for the EU accession? Will the European Council start the
negotiations for Turkey’s accession to the EU at the end of this
year? These
vital questions were answered from seven different perspectives by
the following guest speakers (in alphabetical order).
Mister Baastian Belder,
Independence/Democracy Group,
Member of the
European Parliament, Netherlands; Mister Michalis Charalambidis,
writer, member of the Central Committee of the International
League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, expert on the
genocide of Greeks in Pontos, Athens; Baroness Caroline Cox of
Queensbury, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, United
Kingdom, Chairperson of the Christian Solidarity Worldwide,
London; Ms. Hülya Engin, Committee member of TÜDAY,
organization for the defence of human rights in Turkey and Germany,
Cologne; Dr. Tessa Hofmann, scholar of Armenian studies and
sociology; scientific documentarist at the Free University of
Berlin; writer, human rights activist; chairperson of the Working
Group Recognition – Against Genocide, for International
Understanding; Mister Johny Messo, chairman of the
Foundation Study Centre Aramea, main representative of the Syriac
Universal Alliance (SUA) to the United Nations Office in Geneva;
Prof. Dr. Yves Ternon, doctor, historian and writer, researcher
and expert in genocide studies, in particular the genocide of
Armenians and its denial, Paris.
Mr. Nicolas Tavitian, an expert in international political
relations, Brussels, acted as the moderator.
Their speeches as well as
the documentation regarding the Memorandum are available in the
following web sites (in English and French; some documents
are also available in German):
http://www.aga-online.org/de/aktionen/index.php
http://www.armenian.ch
Below follows the oral
statement of the Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA). In 1999, the SUA
has been officially recognized by the United Nations (UN) as an
non-governmental organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status
with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.
The Status of the
Aramean (Syriac) People in Southeast Turkey
Esteemed Ladies and
Gentlemen,
The
Republic of Turkey boasts a unique mosaic
of religions,
languages and races. Thus it is my honor to share with you the
experiences faced by one of its non-Turkish and non-Muslim peoples
regarding recent advances made in this Republic within the framework
of EU criteria. Namely, of the Arameans – a largely forgotten people
with
an extraordinarily rich heritage.
As
early as the 13th century B.C., written sources
unequivocally portray the southeastern terrain of modern Turkey as
the native land of several Aramean principalities. In the first
centuries A.D., however, the Arameans converted en masse to
Christianity. The numerous monasteries and churches, although most
of them lying in ruins today, still testify to this fact.
[For a detailed description on the Arameans, see
the
multimedia project (3 illustrated books & 3 videotapes) known as
The Hidden Pearl: The Aramaic Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church
(Rome, 2001), which covers 3,000 years of their history and includes
the relationship with their
neighboring
peoples; available in English, German, Swedish, Dutch and Turkish.]
Although
in the past decades the indigenous Aramean or Syriac people have
endured many hardships on different levels, I will briefly touch on
three primary issues following their developments from 1999 on, when
Turkey became an official candidate for EU membership.
1:1915Genocide.
In 1920, the Syriac Orthodox church delivered a memorandum to the
Peace Conference in London stating that ca. 90,000 of its faithful
were innocently murdered. Turkey not only categorically denies this
Aramean national trauma, but it also can penalize the sheer mention
of this Genocide, as the arrestment of a Syriac Orthodox priest
witnessed in 2001. Moreover, in 2001 the Turkish Historical Society
Printing House in Ankara published a book aimed at rebutting the
Genocide of the Aramean people and in 2002 the National Education
Ministry even initiated anti-Genocide teachings to elementary and
high school pupils. In an already highly Islamized state, these are
truly frightening trends for the Christian Arameans.
2:Official recognition.
The articles 37-45 of the Lausanne Treaty (24 July 1923) determine
the rights of the non-Muslim minorities within Turkey. In practice,
however, this Treaty repeatedly gave birth to arbitrary
interpretations by Turkish officials and only the well-known
traditional ‘millets’ (i.e. Armenians, Greeks and Jews) were defined
as “non-Muslim.”
For
example, the teaching of the Aramaic language in ancient monasteries
or the restoration of centuries-old church buildings have been
outlawed in the recent past, all based on this Pact. It is true, the
Arameans virtually do not exist according to such loose
interpretations. Hence, all the elementary human rights (e.g.,
religious, social and cultural) have been denied to them simply
because they are not explicitly referred to as ‘non-Muslim’ in the
Turkish legislation. More, religious freedom cannot be assured in
this secular state as the Department of Religious Affairs has been
controlled by strong Islamic forces for years now; thus it lost its
neutrality.
3:Remigration.
Today, Sweden
and Germany together house more than 100,000 Arameans; whereas in
southeast Turkey there have remained less than 2,500 souls.
After the mass exodus of the Syriacs from their ancestral land in
the past three decades, in 2001 the then Turkish Prime Minister
issued a circular inviting all the Diaspora Arameans under “state
guarantee” to return to their homes again. This message was received
with great joy and hope, and it produced a small movement of
repatriates initiating building and renovation enterprises.
However,
the majority of the Diaspora community is still governed by fear and
insecurity before going back to their lands. Syriac Orthodox church
lootings in Diyarbakir and in Mardin last year, including the
assassination of the mayor of a Syriac village on the 17th
of July 2004, which basically had to do with neighboring Muslims
aspiring to take over the village, confirmed this. The village of
Sare serves as another illustration. In 1994, Turkey installed the
paramilitary ‘village guards’ in Sare to protect the local
population and in the next two years ca. 20 adjacent Syriac villages
were evacuated. It took the expatriates from Sare years to get their
village back again. Only after Mr. Günther Verheugen, who was
petitioned to intervene in this regard, recently left Turkey, the
army abruptly removed these guards just 10 days ago; it should be
noted that more than once expired deadlines were ignored by these
village guards.
In
conclusion, to conform to international laws, in particular on human
rights as well as on minority rights, we appeal today to the Turkish
government to:
1.-
affirm the 1915 Genocide on the Christian populations (including the
Arameans) and discontinue politics of denial;
2.-
acknowledge the indigenous Aramean people officially by including
them unambiguously in the Lausanne Treaty securing their fundamental
human rights and their equal treatment;
3.-
issue a Law of Repatriation for the Arameans, which guarantees their
right of remigration and ensures their safety, beginning with the
termination of the state-sponsored system of the approximately
70,000 village guards who are still operational in the region today;
4.-
recognize and treasure the multicultural identity of the Republic of
Turkey, of which the native Aramean people still form an integral
and essential part. This recognition must also be adopted by Turkish
media outlets and leading corporate, educational and general
institutions.
And so, justice, recognition and equality are the
basic principles we plead for. We believe that this is a minor
request that can be granted to the Arameans by the Republic of
Turkey.
Thank
you kindly for your attention.
Johny
Messo
Main
representative to the UN Office in Geneva on behalf of the Syriac
Universal Alliance
