The republic of Turkey was proclaimed in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal, who changed his name to Atatürk, “Father of the Turks”. Atatürk wanted to create a modern secular national state on the European model. However a multi-party system wasn’t introduced until after the Second World War. In 1960, 1971, and 1980 the military intervened, overthrowing the elected government. In each case after periods ranging from a few months to five years, power was returned to democratically elected governments.
In 1974 Turkey invaded northern Cyprus and the island was split between the Greek-Cypriots in south and the Turkish-Cypriots in the north. Turkey wanted to prevent the Greek military junta from trying to unite Cyprus with Greece. In separate referendums in 2004, the Turkish-Cypriots approved a United Nations plan for reunification, while the Greek-Cypriots voted against, which meant the island remained divided.
In 1984 conflict broke out between government forces and Kurdish organisations, primarily the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). The Kurds live in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and many Turkish Kurds have fled to Iraq. The war continued until 1999 when the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was captured and the PKK was too weak to continue the struggle. In connection with the Iraq war in 2004 the PKK began a limited resumption of its activities.
In connection with the Iraq war the Turkish government was initially positive towards allowing the United States to station troops in Turkey. But after large demonstrations, the Turkish parliament refused to approve the government’s legislation. Later in 2003 Istanbul was the site of several suicide bombings and car bombs, with many dead and injured.
Turkey became an official candidate for membership in the European Union in 1999. Since then domestic policies have concentrated on meeting the EU’s demands for reforms, which were a precondition for negotiations. The death penalty has been abolished, it has become more difficult to forbid political parties, the right of freedom of expression has been strengthened, and the penalties have been increased for acts of torture and violence against women. The reforms also include a more permissive attitude toward minority languages, like Kurdish. In 2005 approval was given to start negotiations for EU membership.
The negotiations have been problematic and filled with conflicts, and traditionalists have offered powerful resistance to change. An EU report on the first year of the negotiations was very critical: deficiencies remain regarding freedom of expression, the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk has damaged both the negotiations and Turkey’s reputation in the outside world, the government’s view of civil society is still marked by scepticism, and military’s role continues to be far too powerful. On the other side, for example, the government’s major effort to train judges in human rights and other areas has been very successful. The creaking negotiations have led to a dramatic drop in the Turkish public’s support for EU membership.
Analysis
Despite EU guidelines having led in some ways to Turkey making major democratic progress, there is a strong scepticism towards the true extent of the reforms, suggesting that in reality much remains as before. For example, while reports of torture and abuse in Turkish prisons have diminished dramatically, at the same time other reports indicate that the methods of torture have become more sophisticated and harder to expose.
Civil society has grown much stronger because of the reforms, but their influence is still limited since the country’s politicians remain sceptical. A new NGO law, however, allows more freedom for activities. Civil society has also received support in the national media and from private donors, who help finance their activities.
A number of women’s and youth organisations have grown stronger and today have national networks, and are very active in the debate surrounding the reforms. Women have much to win and they are both optimistic and willing to fight. New laws have been passed to strengthen women’s rights in politics, at work places, and in the home. Domestic rape has been made illegal, as have honour killings. However, the implementation of these important laws has not been particularly good. Organisations which work for the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals are still often the targets of threats.
Children’s rights have been neglected. The school system is old-fashioned and authoritarian. Children convicted of crimes are still forced to serve their sentences with adults. The most neglected are the Roma children in Istanbul.
Turkey has a problematic relationship to its ethnic minorities: Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians/Syriac Christians, and Alevis. In 1915 Turkish troops carried out a systematic mass murder of Armenians, an event which has been called the first genocide in modern history. Following the creation of modern Turkey the Kurdish language was forbidden and many Kurdish writers and journalists have been threatened or imprisoned. Despite the reforms, there continue to be reports of abuses. Kurdish women are twice as vulnerable, as Kurdish society is ruled by clans, deeply patriarchal, and domestic violence against women is common.
Living standards in Turkey vary greatly. Poverty is growing in rural areas and many are moving to the large cities. This has led to an increase in the number of street children.
Development Co-operation
The Palme Center has received a three year commission from Sida and the Swedish government within the Turkey Programme to build up a bilateral exchange between the Swedish and Turkish people, through support for Turkish civil society. The Turkey Programme is a joint project involving the Foreign Ministry, Sida, and the Consulate General in Istanbul.
The aim is to build up cooperation between Swedish and Swedish-Turkish organisations, and individual organisations in Turkey, to strengthen the democratic process and work for respect for human rights in Turkey. Today most Turkish NGO’s are based in the three major cities of Istanbul, Anaka, and Diyarbakir, in the rest of the country there is a crying need for knowledge and organisation development in civil society.
There is great interest in working with the Turkey Programme and around 20 preliminary studies or cooperation projects started during 2006. Both Swedish and Swedish-Turkish organisations have indicated interest and they work, for example, on issues of democracy, human rights, sexual rights, and questions that concern women’s children’s, youth, disabled, and minority rights, as well as EU integration.