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Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 31 2013
New constitution embracing all ethnicities
MERVE BÃ`Å?RA Ã-ZTÃ`RK
Turkey's bid to hammer out a new constitution, though presently
blocked by divisions over the definition of citizenship, could boost
efforts to solve the country's Kurdish question and end a conflict
with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with whom the
government is currently conducting settlement talks, by affording them
greater rights. Turkish columnists largely suggest eliminating the
emphasis on "Turkishness" in the current Constitution, which has long
been a sticking point for Kurds.
Roni Margulies in his article in the Taraf daily suggests changing
`Turkish flag' to `Turkey's flag.' Quoting from a letter one of his
conservative readers sent him, the columnist said: `Even if we say
that we are equal, we subconsciously think that we, Turks, are
superior. We live as if we have the right to force Kurds to act in
certain way. We tell them to hang Turkish flags and we tell them to
learn Turkish, whereas we do not even attempt to learn their language
or respect their flag. If we are equal, then what right do we have to
interfere with them? I think it is because we have been poisoned. We
were poisoned with nationalism following the Tanzimat era.' If the
Turkish flag had embraced everyone in the country equally, it wouldn't
be a problem for Kurds to hang it, the columnist notes.
Hilal Kaplan from Yeni Å?afak also says if a flag is a symbol that is
supposed to make every citizen feel he belongs to the country, then
she suggests calling it `Turkey's flag.' People may object to this
suggestion, saying `'Turk' is not an ethnicity, it is the name for
everyone living in the country,' and they are right, in a way, she
says. However, there is also a sociological reality in that our
history shows that Turkishness was used as a tool of discrimination in
this country in the past and it is hard to associate this word with a
super-ordinate identity now. If we insist on using the current terms,
including `Turkish' in it, people will continue to believe that the
differences among society are a reason to separate from the country.
There are two options ahead of us now: We should either do away with
the ethnicity-centered perception or we should allow equal spaces for
each ethnicity in the country, Kaplan argues.
Ferhat Kentel, another Taraf columnist, says now is a historic moment
for Turkish democracy and true justice in the country due to the
ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for Turkey. Kurds will not
be the only ones to benefit from a more democratic constitution.
Looking at some of last week's court rulings: Although everyone in the
country knows that Pvt. Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı was killed because he was
an Armenian, a court ruled that his death was an accident and
sentenced the man who shot him to four years and five months in
prison; the boss of 13-year-old Ahmet Yıldız, who was killed when his
head was struck by a hydraulic rubber molding press at a factory, was
sentenced to only two to six years in prison; a man in Denizli who
raped a 15-year-old girl three times was released, with the court
saying, `If the girl was raped three times, then she must have been
willing.' Kentel asks, `Can't we see that we urgently need a new
constitution to finally bring true justice to the country?'
March 31 2013
New constitution embracing all ethnicities
MERVE BÃ`Å?RA Ã-ZTÃ`RK
Turkey's bid to hammer out a new constitution, though presently
blocked by divisions over the definition of citizenship, could boost
efforts to solve the country's Kurdish question and end a conflict
with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with whom the
government is currently conducting settlement talks, by affording them
greater rights. Turkish columnists largely suggest eliminating the
emphasis on "Turkishness" in the current Constitution, which has long
been a sticking point for Kurds.
Roni Margulies in his article in the Taraf daily suggests changing
`Turkish flag' to `Turkey's flag.' Quoting from a letter one of his
conservative readers sent him, the columnist said: `Even if we say
that we are equal, we subconsciously think that we, Turks, are
superior. We live as if we have the right to force Kurds to act in
certain way. We tell them to hang Turkish flags and we tell them to
learn Turkish, whereas we do not even attempt to learn their language
or respect their flag. If we are equal, then what right do we have to
interfere with them? I think it is because we have been poisoned. We
were poisoned with nationalism following the Tanzimat era.' If the
Turkish flag had embraced everyone in the country equally, it wouldn't
be a problem for Kurds to hang it, the columnist notes.
Hilal Kaplan from Yeni Å?afak also says if a flag is a symbol that is
supposed to make every citizen feel he belongs to the country, then
she suggests calling it `Turkey's flag.' People may object to this
suggestion, saying `'Turk' is not an ethnicity, it is the name for
everyone living in the country,' and they are right, in a way, she
says. However, there is also a sociological reality in that our
history shows that Turkishness was used as a tool of discrimination in
this country in the past and it is hard to associate this word with a
super-ordinate identity now. If we insist on using the current terms,
including `Turkish' in it, people will continue to believe that the
differences among society are a reason to separate from the country.
There are two options ahead of us now: We should either do away with
the ethnicity-centered perception or we should allow equal spaces for
each ethnicity in the country, Kaplan argues.
Ferhat Kentel, another Taraf columnist, says now is a historic moment
for Turkish democracy and true justice in the country due to the
ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for Turkey. Kurds will not
be the only ones to benefit from a more democratic constitution.
Looking at some of last week's court rulings: Although everyone in the
country knows that Pvt. Sevag Å?ahin Balıkçı was killed because he was
an Armenian, a court ruled that his death was an accident and
sentenced the man who shot him to four years and five months in
prison; the boss of 13-year-old Ahmet Yıldız, who was killed when his
head was struck by a hydraulic rubber molding press at a factory, was
sentenced to only two to six years in prison; a man in Denizli who
raped a 15-year-old girl three times was released, with the court
saying, `If the girl was raped three times, then she must have been
willing.' Kentel asks, `Can't we see that we urgently need a new
constitution to finally bring true justice to the country?'