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AN OPEN DOOR IN TURKEY WITH NO ONE KNOCKING
Hurriyet
Jan 26 2011
Turkey
Turkey's Foreign Ministry is open to all Turkish citizens to serve as
public employees, including minority groups, a high-ranking ministry
official says. Many members of minority groups, however, don't apply
for it, the diplomat says. Minority representatives, on the other hand,
say there has been discrimination since the country's establishment
No one can claim that there is prejudice against minorities in the
Foreign Ministry, says Deputy Undersecretary Naci Koru. DAILY NEWS
photo, Selahattin SONMEZ
The Foreign Ministry says its doors are open to Turkey's recognized
minorities, but with zero representation in the ministry, community
leaders are decrying the situation and calling on the government to
prove itself by implementing a quota system.
"Everybody can take the exam and serve in the ministry as long
as he or she is a citizen of the Turkish Republic. There is no
discrimination against them," Naci Koru, deputy undersecretary of the
Foreign Ministry, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review late
last week.
"But none of them applied for the last exams," he said. "If only they
had applied."
Asked if there were anyone from minority groups serving in the
ministry, Koru said there were none. "However, it does not mean there
will not be any civil servants from minorities in the future. The
doors are open to them. We don't have any prejudices."
In Turkey, only Armenians, Greek Orthodox and Jews are officially
recognized as minorities due to a designation that stems from the
1923 Lausanne Treaty.
No one can claim that there is prejudice against minorities in
the ministry, Koru said. "There could be claims if someone from a
minority group had made an application and couldn't pass the exam,
but they have never taken it."
No citizens from the official minorities have assumed critical
positions in the Turkish state in the past, although Leo Suren Halepli
became the first Turkish-Armenian to succeed in the state exams for the
Secretariat General of the European Union in 2009. Halepli, however,
has not assumed work with the secretariat because another applicant
opened a lawsuit related to the exam for an unrelated reason.
"There were many non-Muslims serving the state as ambassadors,
even as ministers, during Ottoman times. However, this attitude has
sharply changed since the formation of the Turkish Republic. This
discrimination has been so imprinted into our veins - nobody is tempted
to work in state institutions," Rober KoptaÅ~_, chief editor of the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, told Hurriyet Daily News & Economic
Review on Tuesday.
Turkish citizens of Armenian descent think that the doors of state
institutions are effectively closed to them, so they tended to enter
other professions, KoptaÅ~_ said.
"Many become academics because they don't have a vision of being
a civil servant. An Armenian never thinks that he or she could be
a governor or an ambassador. First of all, their families don't
direct them to become a public employee," KoptaÅ~_ said, adding that
he would not study subjects to prepare for a civil service career
because governments can change their strategies.
"If the state is sincere about now opening its doors to us, it should
develop a different strategy," he said, adding that the strategy
should include quotas for non-Muslims. "It is not enough to say our
doors are open, since there is a big lack of confidence in the state.
Nobody would entrust his career to an indefinite future."
If the Foreign Ministry wanted to make use of the cultures and
languages of its non-Muslim citizens, then the ministry should
establish such quotas, KoptaÅ~_ said. If not, nobody will apply for
the exams, he added.
"There is no legal obstacle for minorities to be a civil servant.
Turkish citizens of Jewish descent are able to be professors in the
academic world. However, there has been a Turkification process and
Jews and Armenians were not able to assume critical positions in the
state," Ivo Molinas, chief editor of Jewish daily Å~^alom, told the
Daily News.
There has been a psychological barrier for both the communities and
state - especially for organizations such as the Foreign Ministry or
the military, he said.
Ara Kocunyan, chief editor of the Armenian daily Jamanak, also said
quotas should be established to better represent minority groups
in Parliament, noting that some people from non-Muslim groups had
taken up positions in local administrations in the municipalities of
Å~^iÅ~_li and Bakırköy in Istanbul.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet
Jan 26 2011
Turkey
Turkey's Foreign Ministry is open to all Turkish citizens to serve as
public employees, including minority groups, a high-ranking ministry
official says. Many members of minority groups, however, don't apply
for it, the diplomat says. Minority representatives, on the other hand,
say there has been discrimination since the country's establishment
No one can claim that there is prejudice against minorities in the
Foreign Ministry, says Deputy Undersecretary Naci Koru. DAILY NEWS
photo, Selahattin SONMEZ
The Foreign Ministry says its doors are open to Turkey's recognized
minorities, but with zero representation in the ministry, community
leaders are decrying the situation and calling on the government to
prove itself by implementing a quota system.
"Everybody can take the exam and serve in the ministry as long
as he or she is a citizen of the Turkish Republic. There is no
discrimination against them," Naci Koru, deputy undersecretary of the
Foreign Ministry, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review late
last week.
"But none of them applied for the last exams," he said. "If only they
had applied."
Asked if there were anyone from minority groups serving in the
ministry, Koru said there were none. "However, it does not mean there
will not be any civil servants from minorities in the future. The
doors are open to them. We don't have any prejudices."
In Turkey, only Armenians, Greek Orthodox and Jews are officially
recognized as minorities due to a designation that stems from the
1923 Lausanne Treaty.
No one can claim that there is prejudice against minorities in
the ministry, Koru said. "There could be claims if someone from a
minority group had made an application and couldn't pass the exam,
but they have never taken it."
No citizens from the official minorities have assumed critical
positions in the Turkish state in the past, although Leo Suren Halepli
became the first Turkish-Armenian to succeed in the state exams for the
Secretariat General of the European Union in 2009. Halepli, however,
has not assumed work with the secretariat because another applicant
opened a lawsuit related to the exam for an unrelated reason.
"There were many non-Muslims serving the state as ambassadors,
even as ministers, during Ottoman times. However, this attitude has
sharply changed since the formation of the Turkish Republic. This
discrimination has been so imprinted into our veins - nobody is tempted
to work in state institutions," Rober KoptaÅ~_, chief editor of the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, told Hurriyet Daily News & Economic
Review on Tuesday.
Turkish citizens of Armenian descent think that the doors of state
institutions are effectively closed to them, so they tended to enter
other professions, KoptaÅ~_ said.
"Many become academics because they don't have a vision of being
a civil servant. An Armenian never thinks that he or she could be
a governor or an ambassador. First of all, their families don't
direct them to become a public employee," KoptaÅ~_ said, adding that
he would not study subjects to prepare for a civil service career
because governments can change their strategies.
"If the state is sincere about now opening its doors to us, it should
develop a different strategy," he said, adding that the strategy
should include quotas for non-Muslims. "It is not enough to say our
doors are open, since there is a big lack of confidence in the state.
Nobody would entrust his career to an indefinite future."
If the Foreign Ministry wanted to make use of the cultures and
languages of its non-Muslim citizens, then the ministry should
establish such quotas, KoptaÅ~_ said. If not, nobody will apply for
the exams, he added.
"There is no legal obstacle for minorities to be a civil servant.
Turkish citizens of Jewish descent are able to be professors in the
academic world. However, there has been a Turkification process and
Jews and Armenians were not able to assume critical positions in the
state," Ivo Molinas, chief editor of Jewish daily Å~^alom, told the
Daily News.
There has been a psychological barrier for both the communities and
state - especially for organizations such as the Foreign Ministry or
the military, he said.
Ara Kocunyan, chief editor of the Armenian daily Jamanak, also said
quotas should be established to better represent minority groups
in Parliament, noting that some people from non-Muslim groups had
taken up positions in local administrations in the municipalities of
Å~^iÅ~_li and Bakırköy in Istanbul.
From: A. Papazian