Summary of speeches during Turkey event at United Nations in Geneva
On Monday, 26 January 2015, the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) held a side event at the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) about “Turkey’s Native Aramean People: The Case of an Unrecognized Minority.” It took place one day before the Universal Periodic Review of Turkey, which is held every four years and which the WCA attended again. Below is a summary of the contributions by the distinguished guest speakers.
As the moderator of this event, the WCA President, Mr. Johny Messo, welcomed the missions, NGOs and media. He stressed that “the Arameans are more than merely a religious group. In fact, they are a people with a distinct identity of more than 3,000 years in Southeast Turkey, where their presence is currently threatened with extinction. They face a number of problems, but the million dollar question is: “Is there a future for the Arameans in Tur-Abdin who, unlike the Arameans from Israel since September 2013, are still not recognized as a distinct ethno-religious group?”
f.l.t.r. Ms. Nurcan Kaya, Turkey coordinator for the Minority Rights Group, Mr. Grégor Puppinck, General Director of the European Center for Law and Justice, Mr. Johny Messo, President of the WCA, Ms. Susanne Güsten, Mercator-IPC fellow at Istanbul Policy Center
Ms. Susanne Güsten, a German foreign correspondent based in Turkey and a Mercator-IPC Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center, has frequently visited the region in the last decade. She closely follows the developments of those Arameans who returned home. She has witnessed that huge amounts of land continue to be expropriated by the Turkish Government and by local (usually Kurdish) tribes, who also intimidate the few Arameans who decided to go back. She explained that a period of hope to repopulate Tur-Abdin began shortly after the turn of the millennium and in the year 2006, “the return movement was in full swing. All around Tur-Abdin, abandoned villages were coming to life, as diaspora Syriacs poured their lifetime savings into restoring and rebuilding their houses – hundreds of them.”
“But then the wind in Turkey changed again: The reform drive fizzled out, Europe turned a cold shoulder, nationalism resurged, several Christians were killed in attacks around the country, fighting in the southeast flared up again – and the Syriacs lost heart. Today, most of those lovingly restored houses in Tur-Abdin stand empty.” Promises by the state have been contradicted by the developments on the ground. For example, owning title deeds, or even obtaining title deeds through court trials that have to be started, have proven to be insufficient, in view of the absence of the rule of law in the region where landlords still seize Aramean land. “This property issue must be resolved,” Ms. Güsten stressed, “if there is to be a future for Syriacs in Turkey. If it is not resolved, Syriacs will rightly read it as a notification on the part of the Turkish state that there is nothing left for them to return to in their homeland. But if Turkey does tackle it, it will be a big step in building confidence in Turkish good intentions in the Syriac diaspora, where thousands are waiting for just such a signal.”
Mr. Gregor Puppinck, the General Director of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) based in Strasbourg, approached the subject from a legal perspective. He argued that “the non-recognition of the Arameans as minority has consequences, as their basic human rights and dignity are not recognized and therefore they do not benefit from any protection.” Be that as it may, when it comes to property rights and landownership, even the traditionally recognized minorities (Greeks, Armenians and Jews) under the Lausanne Treaty suffer from similar discrimination.
“Turkey has always interpreted this Treaty in a narrow way, not according to international standards on human and minority rights.” Mr. Puppinck finds it ironic how Turkey’s leaders call upon the German government to grant language rights to its Turkish minority, while Turkey is denying such rights to its indigenous Aramean citizens who desire to learn and teach their native mother tongue. In this respect, he emphasized: “At the international level, Turkey shows no willingness to sign, ratify, apply and implement all those treaties, declarations and conventions that secure the basic human rights of minority groups like the Arameans. The ECLJ hopes that this side event will be a new occasion to raise awareness of the dramatic situation of the Arameans in the Middle East and to encourage international and European institutions to take concrete steps to preserve the existence and the heritage of the Aramean Christians in this region.”
Ms. Nurcan Kaya, the Istanbul-based Turkey coordinator of Minority Rights Group, started with asking: “Who is a minority?” She reasoned that the answer can be approached from a minority or state perspective and that “there is no legally binding answer.” However, there are three main criteria that qualify a group of people as a minority: “A group must have a distinct identity, must desire to preserve its collective identity and must not be in a dominant position.” Ms. Kaya further asked: “Who is going to decide whether there is a minority in Turkey?” It surely is not the state, because “there are clear objective criteria guaranteed by international treaties and conventions.”
Ms. Kaya clarified that “If a state denies a minority, it effectively wants to deny its rights. If, however, the state would recognize a minority, this will empower the minority, make it more visible and facilitate a better integration into its society.” Ultimately, this process will lead towards equality before the law and equal treatment by society. She pointed out that “Turkey’s concept of a ‘minority’ comes from the Ottoman period, which really lacked ‘equal citizenship’.” Under the so-called millet system, minorities were granted only “relative autonomy,” which meant that the state only allowed them to regulate their own religious, linguistic and hierarchic affairs. “Turkey continues to violate the law by not recognizing its minority groups who obtain their legal status and rights through international treaties.”
In his closing remarks, Mr. Messo stated that The Aramean Question in Turkey basically consists of five main issues. He explained that “in order to survive and be successfully integrated in Turkish society, the Arameans seek above all recognition in order to acquire a legal status. Secondly, their land and property continue to be confiscated by the state and local tribes. Thirdly, their cultural heritage is endangered. Fourthly, the future of the remaining native Aramean population in Tur-Abdin is insecure. Lastly, they seek answers, recognition and a solution for the mass murder of more than 500,000 Arameans in Southeast Turkey between 1895 and 1923, which experts qualify as a ‘genocide’.”
Mr. Messo stated that a serious and sincere dialogue must start between Turkey and the Arameans, and the WCA is ready to assume its responsibility and play a key role in this regard. “In the final analysis, it is also in the interest of Turkey and its democratization process to recognize the Aramean people, grant them their rights, secure their future in Tur-Abdin and integrate them into Turkish society.”
The WCA will soon publish the written papers and video recordings of the speeches by the speakers. Furthermore, the WCA is currently preparing a big side event in March during the 28th Session of the Human Rights Council at the UNOG.
The WCA’s delegation that held this event consisted of Mr. Messo, Ms. Sarah Bakir (Main Delegate to UNOG), Mr. Jacob Harman (Delegate to UNOG from the Syriac Aramean Youth Federation in Sweden, SAUF) and Ms. Nathalie Korkis (Delegate to UNOG from the Syriac/Aramean Academics Federation of Sweden, SAAF). Present from the Federation of Arameans in Switzerland were Mr. Melki Toprak (Chairman) and Mr. Tony Urek (Youth Affairs). Finally, we are thankful to the Aramean satellite channel SuryoyoSat, for covering this important event pertaining to the native Arameans of Turkey.