Jump to content

Kurds in Turkey

Page extended-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Kurds in turkey)
See also: Turkish Kurdistan

Kurds in Turkey
Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey according to The World Factbook (1992)
Total population
13.0–14.2 million[1]
(KONDA, 2013 estimate)
15.25 million[2]
(CIA World Factbook, 2016 estimate)
20 million[3]
(Kurdish Institute of Paris, 2017 estimate)
Regions with significant populations
Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia,
Large diaspora population in Istanbul, Izmir, Adana and Mersin
Languages
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam, minority Alevism and Yazidism
Related ethnic groups
Zazas and other Iranian peoples

The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey.[4][5][6] There are Kurds living in various provinces of Turkey, but they are primarily concentrated in the east and southeast of the country within the region viewed by Kurds as Turkish Kurdistan.

During the violent suppressions of numerous Kurdish rebellions since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, such as the Sheikh Said Rebellion, the Ararat rebellion, and the Dersim Rebellion, massacres have periodically been committed against the Kurds, with one prominent incident being the Zilan Massacre. The Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991,[7][8][9] and denied the existence of Kurds.[10] The words "Kurds" or "Kurdistan" were banned in any language by the Turkish government, though "Kurdish" was allowed in census reports.[11] Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish languages were officially prohibited in public and private life.[12] Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.[13] In Turkey, it is illegal to use Kurdish as a language of instruction in both public and private schools. The Kurdish language is only allowed as a subject in some schools.[14]

Since the 1980s, Kurdish movements have included both peaceful political activities for basic civil rights for Kurds in Turkey as well as armed rebellion and guerrilla warfare, including military attacks aimed mainly at Turkish military bases, demanding first a separate Kurdish state and later self-determination for the Kurds.[15] According to a state-sponsored Turkish opinion poll, 59% of self-identified Kurds in Turkey think that Kurds in Turkey do not seek a separate state (while 71.3% of self-identified Turks think they do).[16]

During the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, food embargoes were placed on Kurdish villages and towns.[17][18] There were many instances of Kurds being forcibly expelled from their villages by Turkish security forces.[19] Many villages were reportedly set on fire or destroyed.[19][20] Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, political parties that represented Kurdish interests were banned.[21] In 2013, a ceasefire effectively ended the violence until June 2015, when hostilities renewed between the PKK and the Turkish government over Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Violence was widely reported against ordinary Kurdish citizens and the headquarters and branches of the pro-Kurdish rights Peoples' Democratic Party were attacked by mobs.[22]

History

Middle Ages

The Marwanid dynasty, which was of Kurdish origin, ruled a territory from Diyarbakir that included parts of Syria and Iraq from 984 to 1083.[23] The Ayyubid dynasty, also of Kurdish origin (but identifying first and foremost as Muslims), ruled parts of Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries.[24]

According to Ahmet Nezihî Turan the first Kurdish settlement in Central Anatolia was named Kürtler ("Kurds"), founded in Yaban Âbâd (present-day Kızılcahamam-Çamlıdere near Ankara) in 1463.[25][page needed] According to Mark Sykes, the earliest population transfer (or exile) of Kurds to Central Anatolia was carried out during the reign of Selim I (1512–20).[26]

Early modern period

The Mahmudi or "Pinyanişi" was an Ottoman-Kurdish tribe in the Lake Van region, who according to Evliya Çelebi had 60,000 warriors.[27] Their chief, Sarı Süleyman Bey,[28] strengthened the Hoşap Castle[29] in the Lake Van region, in 1643.[30]

19th century

Kurdish Anatolian carpet, early 19th century.

After ca. 1800, the Cihanbeyli, Reşwan and Şêxbizin tribes migrated into central Anatolia from the east and southeast.[31] The total Kurdish population in Turkey was estimated at 1.5 million in the 1880s, many of whom were nomadic or pastoral.[32]

20th century

Further information: Deportations of Kurds (1916–1934)
Kurdish mother and child, Van, Turkey. 1973
Iraqi Kurds fleeing to Turkey in April 1991, during the Gulf War

Before the foundation of Turkey, the Kurds were recognized as an own Nation of themselves.[33] The Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal also recognized the Kurds as a nation at the time and stated that provinces in which the Kurds lived shall be granted autonomy.[33] After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, which ended the caliphates and sultanate in Turkey, there have been several Kurdish rebellions since the 1920s: Koçkiri Rebellion,[34] Beyitüssebab rebellion, Sheikh Said Rebellion,[35] Dersim Rebellion,[36] Ararat rebellion. The policy towards the Kurds changed most prominently in 1924, as the new constitution denied the Kurds autonomy.[33] The Kurdish people and their language were soon oppressed by the Turkish Government, as the Turkish Constitution of 1924 prohibited the use of Kurdish in public places, and a law was issued which enabled the expropriation of the Kurdish landowners and the delivery of the land to Turkish speaking people.[35] Through the Turkish History Thesis, Kurds were classified as being of Turanian origin, having migrated from Central Asia 5000 years ago.[37] Hence, a Kurdish nation was denied and Kurds were called Mountain Turks.[37] From 1927 on, a General Inspector ruled over the First Inspectorate General through the implementation of emergency decrees and martial law. The areas around Hakkari, Mardin, Siirt, Urfa, Van, Elaziğ and Diyarbakır were under his rule until 1952,[38] when the government of the Democratic Party brought a new approach towards the Kurds and closed the General Inspectorates.[39]

Referring to the main policy document in this context, the 1934 law on resettlement, a policy targeting the region of Dersim as one of its first test cases, with disastrous consequences for the local population.[40] The aim or the law was to spread the population with non-Turkish culture in to different areas than their origin, and to settle people who were willing to adhere to the Turkish culture in the formerly non-Turkish areas.[39] The Fourth Inspectorate General was created in January 1936 in the Dersim region[41] and the Kurdish language and culture were forbidden.[37] The Dersim massacre is often confused with the Dersim Rebellion that took place during these events.[42] In 1937–38, approximately 10,000-15,000 Alevis and Kurds[42][43][44] were killed and thousands went into exile. A key component of the Turkification process was the policy of massive population resettlement.

After the 1960 coup, the State Planning Organization (Turkish: Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı, DPT) was established under the Prime Ministry to solve the problem of Kurdish separatism and underdevelopment. In 1961, the DPT prepared a report titled "The principles of the state's development plan for the east and southeast" (Turkish: Devletin Doğu ve Güneydoğu'da uygulayacağı kalkınma programının esasları), shortened to "Eastern Report". It proposed to defuse separatism by encouraging ethnic mixing through migration (to and from the Southeast). This was not unlike the policies pursued by the Committee of Union and Progress under the Ottoman Empire. The Minister of Labor of the time, Bülent Ecevit of partial Kurdish ancestry,[45][46] was critical of the report.[47] From the establishment of the Inspectorate Generals until 1965, South East Turkey, was a forbidden area for foreigners.[38]

During the 1970s, the separatist movement coalesced into the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. From 1984 to 1999, the Turkish military was embroiled in a conflict with the PKK. The village guard system was set up and armed by the Turkish state around 1984 to combat the PKK. The militia comprises local Kurds and it has around 58,000 members. Some of the village guards are fiercely loyal to the Turkish state, leading to infighting among Kurdish militants.[48]

Due to the clashes between Turkish Army and the PKK the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, with Kurdish civilians moving to local defensible centers such as Diyarbakır, Van, and Şırnak, as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included the Turkish state's military operations against Kurdish population, some PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans they could not control and the poverty of the southeast.[49] In the 1990s, hope for an end to the conflict emerged, as the PKK has declared several ceasefires and the political society has organized several campaigns to facilitate a reconciliation.[50]

"Evacuations were unlawful and violent. Security forces would surround a village using helicopters, armored vehicles, troops, and village guards, and burn stored produce, agricultural equipment, crops, orchards, forests, and livestock. They set fire to houses, often giving the inhabitants no opportunity to retrieve their possessions. During the course of such operations, security forces frequently abused and humiliated villagers, stole their property and cash, and ill-treated or tortured them before herding them onto the roads and away from their former homes. The operations were marked by scores of "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless."[51]

21st century

In 2009, under the lead of Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, a short-lived peace process was started, but was not supported by the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) over concerns over the ethnic and national unity of the state. It ended in December 2009, following an attack on Turkish soldiers by the Kurdistan Workers' Party on the 7 December and the ban of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the 11 December 2009.[52] In 2010, after clashes between the PKK and the government forces in eastern and southeastern Turkey, several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan were attacked by the Turkish Air Force early in June 2010.[53] The air attack was reported 4 days later in a news article released immediately after the attack.[54] The tense condition has continued on the border since 2007, with both sides responding to each other's every offensive move.

Following Turkey's electoral board decision to bar prominent Kurdish candidates who had allegedly outstanding warrants or were part of ongoing investigations for PKK-links from standing in upcoming elections,[55] violent Kurdish protests erupted on April 19, 2011, resulting in at least one casualty.[56]

On the eve of the 2012 year (28 December), the prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that the government was conducting negotiations with jailed rebel leader Öcalan.[57] On 21 March 2013, after months of negotiations with the Turkish Government, Abdullah Ocalan's letter to people was read both in Turkish and Kurdish during Nowruz celebrations in Diyarbakır. The letter called a cease-fire that included disarmament and withdrawal from Turkish soil and calling an end to armed struggle. The PKK announced that they would obey, stating that the year of 2013 is the year of solution either through war or through peace. On 25 April 2013, the PKK announced that it would be withdrawing all its forces within Turkey to northern Iraq.[58]

A protest
Kurds protesting the Siege of Kobanî, 29 September 2014
A celebration
HDP supporters celebrating election results in Istanbul, 8 June 2015

On 6 and 7 October 2014, riots erupted in various cities in Turkey for protesting the Siege of Kobani. Protesters were met with tear gas and water cannons; 37 people were killed in protests.[59] Following the July 2015 crisis (after ISIL's 2015 Suruç bombing attack on Kurdish activists), Turkey bombed alleged PKK bases in Iraq, following the PKK's unilateral decision to end the cease-fire (after many months of increasing tensions) and its suspected killing of two policeman in the town of Ceylanpınar (which the group denied carrying out[60]).[61][62] Violence soon spread throughout the country. Many Kurdish businesses were destroyed by mobs.[63] The headquarters and branches of the pro-Kurdish rights Peoples' Democratic Party were also attacked.[22] There are reports of civilians being killed in several Kurdish populated towns and villages.[64] The Council of Europe raised their concerns over the attacks on civilians and the blockade of Cizre.[65] In 2008 and also in the indictment in the Peoples' Democratic Party closure case the demand for education in Kurdish language or the teaching of the Kurdish language was equated of supporting terrorist activities by the PKK.[66][67] By 2017, measures taken to curtail efforts to promote Kurdish culture within Turkey had included changing street names that honored Kurdish figures, removing statues of Kurdish heroes, and closing down television channels broadcasting in the Kurdish language.[68] In July 2020, Turkey's Council of Higher Education banned students studying the Kurdish language and literature at Turkish universities from writing their dissertations in Kurdish.[69]

Politics

Main article: Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey
HDP Party's results at the November 2015 Turkish general election
Mehmet Şimşek, minister of Finance, at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Kurdish politicians participate in Turkey's mainstream political parties, as well as smaller parties. Mehmet Mehdi Eker (Agriculture), Mehmet Şimşek (Finance) and Bekir Bozdağ (Deputy Prime Minister) are examples of ministers with Kurdish background who worked as ministers in the 61st government of Turkey.[70]

There are also political parties that supports minority politics,[71] like the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which holds 58 out of 600 seats in the Parliament, a multi-ethnic society and friendly Turkish-Kurdish relations.[72] Critics have accused the party of mainly representing the interests of the Kurdish minority in south-eastern Turkey, where the party polls the highest. The Turkish Government under Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the HDP of holding relations with the armed militia PKK[73] and has dismissed and arrested dozens of elected Mayors since the 2016[74][75] and since the municipal elections in March 2019 dismissed another 45 Mayors from the 65 Mayorships the party won.[76] Since 2016 also Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ (at the time HDP party leaders) and several other members of Parliament of the HDP are imprisoned as part of the 2016 purges in Turkey.[74]

Political parties

Pro-Kurdish HDP politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdağ had been arrested in 2016

Parties in Turkey with high emphasis on Kurdish nationalism or minority politics include Rights and Freedoms Party, Communist Party of Kurdistan, Islamic Party of Kurdistan, Peoples' Democratic Party, Kurdistan Democratic Party/North (illegal), Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan (illegal). Defunct parties include Democracy Party (DEP; 1993–94), Democratic People's Party (1997–2005), Democratic Society Party (DTP; 2005–09), Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP; 1992–93), Kurdistan Islamic Movement (1993–2004), Peace and Democracy Party (2008–14), People's Democracy Party (HADEP; 1994–2003), People's Labor Party (HEP; 1990–93), Workers Vanguard Party of Kurdistan (1975–92). Banned parties include HEP, ÖZDEP (1993), DEP (1994), HADEP (2003), and DTP (2009).[77][page needed]

Public opinion

According to a 2020 poll conducted by Kadir Has University 17.3% of the surveyed people who identify as Kurdish answered the question "Which form of polity do Kurdish people want?" as "an independent Kurdish state". Around 25% of the non-Kurdish participants gave the same answer to the question. Roughly 33% of the Kurdish participants answered "more democratic Turkey", meanwhile those who responded "autonomy" composed 24.5% of the surveyed.[78][79]

12.3% of those surveyed find the government policies concerning Kurdish issues "definitely successful", while those who said "definitely unsuccessful" were 11.7 percent. 31.5 percent of the respondents stated that the "main element connecting the Kurds and the Turks" was Islam, 24% stated that they shared a common history, and the rate of those who said "democratic society" was 4.5 percent. To the question "How do you evaluate the dismissal of some provincial and district mayorships and the appointment of trustees by proxy after the 31 March local elections?" 26.5 percent of the participants answered the question as positive and 38.2 percent as negative.[79]

Kurdish rebellions

Main article: Kurdish rebellions in Turkey

According to human rights organisations, since the beginning of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish conflict in 1978, there have been over 4,000 Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey and some 40,000 people have been killed.[80] The conflict resumed in 2015. In December 2015, Turkish military operations against Kurdish rebels in Turkish Kurdistan have killed hundreds of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands, and caused massive destruction in residential areas.[81]

Culture

Kurdish man jumping the fire during Newroz.

Music

Between 1982 and 1991, the performance or recording of songs in the Kurdish language on television and radio was banned in Turkey, affecting singers such as Şivan Perwer, Mahsun Kırmızıgül and İbrahim Tatlıses. However, a black market sprang up, and pirate radio stations and underground recordings became available.[82]

Şivan Perwer is a composer, vocalist and tembûr player. He concentrates mainly on political and nationalistic music—of which he is considered the founder in Kurdish music—as well as classical and folk music.

Another important Kurdish musician from Turkey is Nizamettin Arıç (Feqiyê Teyra). He began with singing in Turkish, and made his directorial debut and also stars in Klamek ji bo Beko (A Song for Beko), one of the first films in Kurdish. Arıç rejected musical stardom at the cost of debasing his language and culture. As a result of singing in Kurdish, he was imprisoned, and then obliged to flee to Syria and eventually to Germany.[83][84]

Literature

A Kurdish girl in Savur, Mardin (2009)

Some sources consider Ali Hariri (1425–1495) as the first well-known poet who wrote in Kurdish. He was from the Hakkari region.[85] Other well known are Sharafkhan Bidlisi the author of Sharafname and Ahmad Khani who wrote the Kurdish national epic Mem û Zin.[86] During decades, the letters X, Q, and W which are part of the Kurdish alphabet were prohibited to be used[87] and only in 2013, the ban was lifted.[88]

Film

In 2011, Kanal D, Turkey's largest television station, began filming Ayrılık Olmasaydı: ben-u sen in majority-Kurdish Diyarbakir. The show, written by a Kurdish screenwriter, professed to be the first in the popular genre to portray the Kurds in a positive light. The show was set to debut in early 2012, but suffered numerous delays, some say because of the controversial subject.[89]

Demographics

Further information: Demographics of the Kurdish people
Historical Kurdish population according to census results (1927–1970)
Year Total Kurdish speakers[90] % Note
1927 1,184,446 8.7% L1: 1,184,446
No numbers on L2
1935 1,594,702 9.9% L1: 1,480,246
L2: 114,456
1945 1,593,692 8.5% L1: 1,476,562
L2: 117,130
1950 2,069,921 9.9% L1: 1,854,569
L2: 215,352
1955 1,942,285 8.1% L1: 1,679,265
L2: 263,020
1960 2,317,132 8.3% L1: 1,847,674
L2: 469,458
1965 2,817,313 9% L1: 2,370,233
L2: 447,080
1970 3,225,795 9.1% data published by
major newspapers

The majority of Kurds live in Turkey.[91] Estimations on the Kurdish population in Turkey varies considerably according to sources. A professor of political science, Michael Gunter wrote that Kurdish sources tend to exaggerate numbers, while the states that Kurds live in often undercount the Kurdish population.[92]

Their numbers are estimated at 14,000,000 people by the CIA world factbook (18% of population).[91] A report commissioned by the National Security Council (Turkey) in 2000 puts the number at 12,600,000 people, or 15.7% of the population.[4] One Western source estimates that up to 25% of the Turkish population is Kurdish (approximately 18-19 million people).[5] Kurdish nationalists put the figure at 20,000,000[93] to 25,000,000.[94] All of the above figures are for the number of people who identify as Kurds, not the number who speak a Kurdish language, but include both Kurds and Zazas.[95] Estimates based on native languages place the Kurdish population at 6% to 23%; Ibrahim Sirkeci claims the closest figure should be above 17.8%, taking into account political context and the potential biases in responses recorded in surveys and censuses.[96] The population growth rate of Kurds in the 1970s was given as 3.27%.[97] According to two studies (2006 and 2008) study by KONDA, people who self-identify as Kurdish or Zaza and/or speaks Kurmanji or Zazaki as a mother tongue correspond to 13.4% of the population. Based on higher birth rates among Kurdish people, and using 2000 Census results, KONDA suggested that this figure rises to 15.7% when children are included, at the end of 2007.[98]

Since the immigration to the big cities in the west of Turkey, interethnic marriage has become more common. A 2013 study estimates that there are 2,708,000 marriages between Turks and Kurds/Zaza.[99]

Percentage of Kurdish population in Turkey by region[100]

Turkish government statistics show that Kurdish women in Turkey give birth to about four children, more than double the rate for the rest of the Turkish population. The Kurdish population is growing, while the rest of the country has birth rates below replacement level.[101][102] In some Kurdish dominated provinces women give birth to 7.1 children on average.[103] Women in Kurdish dominated provinces of eastern Turkey also have an illiteracy rate about three times higher than men, which correlates with higher birth rates. In 2000 66% of 15-year-old girls from Şırnak Province could not read or write.[103][needs update]

Language

The majority of people who identify as Kurds speak Kurmanji, meanwhile a minority of them speak Turkish or Zazaki as their mother language. A study published in 2015 that demographically analysed the Kurdish inhabited regions of Turkey (excluding diaspora) concluded that c. 92% people belonging to Kurdish ethnic identity spoke Kurdish languages, 6.4% spoke Turkish, and 1.4% spoke Zaza as their mother language. Around 2% of the surveyed people who identified as Zaza, but not Kurd expressed that their mother tongue was Kurdish. 3.1% of the Turks and 4.6% of Arabs also stated that they spoke Kurdish. Concerning Alevi people, c. 70% spoke Zaza, 20% Kurdish and 10% Turkish.[104]

Around 75% of the Kurds stated that they either had "very good" or "good" proficiency in their respective mother languages. 55% of those who had "very good" or "good" proficiency in their mother language stated that their children were also proficient. Around 75% of the Kurds and 2% of the Zazas (58.4% for Zazaki) declared that they spoke Kurdish at home. Turkish was spoken by 22.4% and 38.3% at home, respectively. Turkish (70%) was the dominant household language for Alevi population.[104]

Religion

Most of the Kurdish people living in Turkey are Sunni Muslims, though Alevism comprises a sizable minority of about 30%.[105] 24.4% of the Kurds and 9.8% of Zazas declared that they were belonging to Hanafi school, meanwhile the vast majority of them were of the Shafiʽi school, which contrasted the local Turkish and Arab population, both of whom were overwhelmingly Hanafi. 3.1% of the Kurds and 14.8% of Zazas were Alevi, compared to 5.4 percent of Turks and 1.1 percent of Arabs.[104]

Kurds and Zazas in Eastern Turkey are found to be more religious compared to both general population of Turkey and the Turkish population in the same region. Religious observance rates such as fasting during Ramadan, praying 5 times a day or going to Jumu'ah regularly show similar patterns. On the other hand, people who are Alevis show the least amount of religiosity and lowest observance rates, both regionally and nationally.[104] 96 to 97 percent of the surveyed Kurd and Zaza groups in Eastern Turkey had someone in their household who wears headscarf, which was higher compared to Turkish population of the region. Only around 11% of Alevis declared that there were someone with headscarf in their household. 4.3% of both Kurd and Zaza groups were members of a specific religious sect, which was roughly double the rate of regional Turkish and Alevi population.[104]

Tribes

Main article: Kurdish tribes

33.4% of the Kurds and 21.2% of the Zaza from Eastern Turkey declared that they had tribal affiliations (Kurdish: eşîr, Turkish: aşiret), compared to c. 3% of the Turks in the same region. Tribal affiliation was highest (73%) among the people who declared that they were Alevis. 18.5% of those who were a member of a tribe stated that their tribe was an important factor for their political decisions. Around 10% of the surveyed tribal members claimed it was economically important to be in a tribe.[104]

Central Anatolia

Map of Kurds of Central Anatolia[106]

The Kurds of Central Anatolia[107] (Kurdish: Kurdên Anatolyayê/Anatolê, Turkish: Orta Anadolu Kürtleri[108] or İç Anadolu Kürtleri[109] are the Kurdish people who have immigrated and been in Central Anatolia (present day Aksaray, Ankara, Çankırı, Çorum, Eskişehir, Karaman, Kayseri, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Konya, Nevşehir, Niğde, Sivas, Yozgat provinces) since about 16th century.[110][111] They number between 50,000 and 100,000 people. The core of the Kurds of Central Anatolia is formed by Tuz Gölü Kürtleri (Kurds of Lake Tuz) who live in the provinces Ankara, Konya and Aksaray.[112] Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) mentioned them as "Konya çöllerindeki Kürtler" (Kurds in the Konya deserts) in the interview with Ahmet Emin (Yalman) dated January 16/17, 1923.[113]

According to Hermann Wenzel, the original breeders of the Angora goat were the Kurds of Inner Anatolia.[114][115]

The largest tribes of the Kurds of Central Anatolia are the Bazaini or Shaikh Bazaini, Judikan, Saifkan, Chelebi, Janbeki, Jehanbegli, Khallikan, Mutikan, Hajibani, Barakati, Badeli, Ukhchizhemi, Rashvan, Sherdi, Urukchi, Milan, Zirikan, Atmanikan, and Tirikan. Formerly, some of the Janbegli, Rashvan and Milan tribes were of Alevi origin and followed Alevism.[116]

Two or the four primary dialects of Kurdish are used by the Central Anatolian Kurds. These are Kurmanji and Dimili/Zaza. Generally, their mother language is Kurmanji Kurdish who have difficulty understanding the dialect spoken in Haymana where the Şêxbizin tribe live.[117] It is said that the new generation of Kurdish people in some settlements no longer speak Kurdish.[118]

Human rights

See also: Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey
Leyla Zana; Kurdish politician who was awarded the 1995 Sakharov Prize

Since the 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has condemned Turkey for thousands of human rights abuses.[119][120] The judgments are related to executions of Kurdish civilians,[121] torturing,[122] forced displacements,[123] destroyed villages,[124] arbitrary arrests,[125] murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists.[126] To cite a recent case, in 2018 and 2020, the ECHR ruled that the arrest and ongoing imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtaş was contrary to five articles in the European Convention on Human Rights and had the "ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate"[127][128] and ordered Turkey to pay him 25,000 Euros in compensation.[129] Turkey refused to release him.[130]

The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reports that (as of April 2010): "The public use by officials of the Kurdish language lays them open to prosecution, and public defence by individuals of Kurdish or minority interests also frequently leads to prosecutions under the Criminal Code."[131] From the 1994 briefing at the International Human Rights Law Group: "the problem in Turkey is the Constitution is against the Kurds and the apartheid constitution is very similar to it."[132]

In 1998 Leyla Zana received a jail sentence.[133] This prompted one member of the U.S. House of Representative, Elizabeth Furse, to accuse Turkey of being a racist state and continuing to deny the Kurds a voice in the state". Abbas Manafy from New Mexico Highlands University claims "The Kurdish deprivation of their own culture, language, and tradition is incompatible with democratic norms. It reflects an apartheid system that victimizes minorities like Armenians, Kurds, and Alevis."[134]

See also

 
People
Population
  • Homeland
History

Ancient

Karduchian dynasties

Corduene
Zabdicene
Cyrtians
Moxoene

Medieval

Modern
Culture
Languages
Kurdish languages
Religion

References

  1. ^ How many Kurds live in Turkey? by Tarhan Erdem, Hurriyet Daily News, April 26, 2013
  2. ^ "The CIA World Factbook: Turkey (19% of a total population of 80.2 million (2017) gives a figure of about 15.25 million)". Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  3. ^ The Kurdish Population by the Kurdish Institute of Paris, 2017 estimate. "The territory, which the Kurds call Northern Kurdistan (Kurdistana Bakur), has 14.2 million inhabitants in 2016. According to several surveys, 86% of them are Kurds... So in 2016 there are about 12.2 million Kurds still living in Kurdistan in Turkey. We know that there are also strong Kurdish communities in the big Turkish metropolises like Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Adana and Mersin. The numerical importance of this "diaspora" is estimated according to sources at 7 to 10 million... Assuming an average estimate of 8 million Kurds in the Turkish part of Turkey, thus arrives at the figure of 20 million Kurds in Turkey."
  4. ^ a b "Türkiye'deki Kürtlerin sayısı!". Milliyet (in Turkish). 6 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008.; Atar, Tolga (6 June 2008). "MGK'nın sır raporu ortaya çıktı!". Bugun (in Turkish). Koza İpek Gazetecilik ve Yayıncılık A.Ş. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.; Atar, Tolga (7 June 2008). "Sır rapor şoku". Bugun (in Turkish). Koza İpek Gazetecilik ve Yayıncılık A.Ş. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  5. ^ a b Sandra Mackey , "The reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam", W.W. Norton and Company, 2002. Excerpt from pg 350: "As much as 25% of Turkey is Kurdish."
  6. ^ [1] Archived 10 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine [2] Archived 11 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine UNICEF Children in the Population
  7. ^ Turkey - Linguistic and Ethnic Groups - U.S. Library of Congress
  8. ^ Bartkus, Viva Ona, The Dynamic of Secession, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 90–91.
  9. ^ Çelik, Yasemin (1999). Contemporary Turkish foreign policy (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn.: Praeger. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-275-96590-7.
  10. ^ Jongerden, Joost (1 January 2007). The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatical Policies, Modernity and War. BRILL. p. 53. ISBN 978-90-04-15557-2.
  11. ^ "Kurdish Language Policy in Turkey | Kurdish Academy Of Languages". Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  12. ^ Toumani, Meline. Minority Rules, New York Times, 17 February 2008
  13. ^ Aslan, Senem (2014). Nation Building in Turkey and Morocco. Cambridge University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-107-05460-8.
  14. ^ "COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Kurdistan-Turkey". GlobalSecurity.org. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  16. ^ "In your opinion, do the Kurds want to have a separate state?" (PDF). Public Perception of the Kurdish Question. Turkey: Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and Pollmark. 2009. p. 63. ISBN 978-605-4023-06-6. Archived from the original (Poll report) on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2010.Some Kurdish movements, such as Kurdistan Freedom Hawks have targeted also Kurdish and Turkish civilians.
  17. ^ Olson, Robert (1996). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. p. 16. ISBN 0-8131-0896-9.
  18. ^ Shaker, Nadeen. "After Being Banned for Almost a Century, Turkey's Kurds Are Clamoring to Learn Their Own Language". Muftah.
  19. ^ a b Gunes, Cengiz (2013). The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-136-58798-6.
  20. ^ Ibrahim, Ferhad (2000). The Kurdisch Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy. Münster: New York, N.Y.: Lit ; St. Martin's press. p. 182. ISBN 3-8258-4744-6.
  21. ^ Baser, Bahar (2015). Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts: A Comparative Perspective. Ashgate Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4724-2562-1.
  22. ^ a b "'Lynching Campaign' Targets Kurds in Turkey, HDP Offices Attacked". Armenian Weekly. 9 September 2015.
  23. ^ Gunter, Michael M. (2018). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-5381-1050-8.
  24. ^ Gunter 2018, p. 51.
  25. ^ Ahmet Nezili Turan, Yaninâbâd Tarihini Ararken, Kızılcahamam Belediye Yayınları, 1999. (in Turkish)
  26. ^ Mark Sykes, "The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. XXXVIII, 1908.
  27. ^ Evliya Çelebi; Robert Dankoff (1 January 1991). The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman, Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662): As Portrayed in Evliya Celebi's Book of Travels (Seyahat-name). SUNY Press. pp. 150–. ISBN 978-0-7914-0640-3.
  28. ^ Daniel Farson (1 January 1985). A Traveller in Turkey. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7102-0281-9.
  29. ^ David Nicolle (2010). Ottoman Fortifications 1300-1710. Osprey Publishing. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-84603-503-6.
  30. ^ Altan Çilingiroğlu (1988). The History of the Kingdom of Van, Urartu. Ofis Ticaret Matbaacilik Limited. p. 54. ISBN 978-975-95515-0-6.
  31. ^ Jak Yakar (2000). Ethnoarchaeology of Anatolia: rural socio-economy in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology. ISBN 978-965-266-011-4. In addition to the Turkmen tribes, after ca. 1800, a number of Kurdish tribes such as the Cihanbeyli, Resvan and Sihbizin began to move out of the eastern and southeastern provinces into central Anatolia, considerably increasing the number ...
  32. ^ Karl Kaser (2008). Patriarchy After Patriarchy: Gender Relations in Turkey and in the Balkans, 1500-2000. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 98. ISBN 978-3-8258-1119-8.
  33. ^ a b c Yegen, Mesut (2009). "'Prospective-Turks' or 'Pseudo-Citizens:' Kurds in Turkey". Middle East Journal. 63 (4): 598–599. doi:10.3751/63.4.14. ISSN 0026-3141. JSTOR 20622956. S2CID 144559224.
  34. ^ Hans-Lukas Kieser, Iskalanmış barış: Doğu Vilayetleri'nde misyonerlik, etnik kimlik ve devlet 1839–1938, ISBN 978-975-05-0300-9, (original: Der verpasste Friede: Mission, Ethnie und Staat in den Ostprovinzen der Türkei 1839–1938, Chronos, 2000, ISBN 3-905313-49-9)
  35. ^ a b Olson, Robert (1989). The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880–1925. University of Texas Press. p. 91. ISBN 0-292-77619-5.
  36. ^ "the Dersim rebellion, the last Kurdish rebellion". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  37. ^ a b c Poulton, Hugh (1997). Top Hat, Grey Wolf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic. New York: Hurst. p. 121. ISBN 0-8147-6648-X.
  38. ^ a b Jongerden, Joost (28 May 2007). The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War. BRILL. p. 53. ISBN 978-90-474-2011-8.
  39. ^ a b Bozarslan, Hamit (17 April 2008). Faroqhi, Suraiya; Kasaba, Reşat; Kunt, I. Metin; Fleet, Kate (eds.). The Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-521-62096-3.
  40. ^ Andreopoulos, George J. Genocide. p. 11.
  41. ^ Cagaptay, Soner (2 May 2006). Islam, Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk?. Routledge. pp. 108–110. ISBN 978-1-134-17448-5.
  42. ^ a b Bruinessen, Martin van (1994). "Genocide in Kurdistan? The Suppression of the Dersim Rebellion in Turkey (1937-38) and the Chemical War Against the Iraqi Kurds (1988)" (PDF). In Andreopoulos, George J (ed.). Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 141–170.
  43. ^ David McDowall, A modern history of the Kurds, I.B.Tauris, Mayıs 2004, s.209
  44. ^ "Alevi-CHP rift continues to grow after Öymen remarks". Today's Zaman. 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  45. ^ Ercan Yavuz, "Kürt kökenli olabilirim", Akşam, August 4, 2004. (in Turkish)
  46. ^ Mahmut Çetin, Çinli Hoca'nın torunu Ecevit, Emre Yayınları, 2006, p. 18.
  47. ^ Dündar, Can; Akar, Rıdvan (22 January 2008). "Kürtlerle Karadenizliler yer değiştirsinler!". Güncel. Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  48. ^ Beattie, Meriel (4 August 2006). "Local guards divide Turkish Kurds". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  49. ^ Radu, Michael (2001). "The Rise and Fall of the PKK". Orbis. 45 (1). Philadelphia: Foreign Policy Research Institute: 47–63. doi:10.1016/S0030-4387(00)00057-0. OCLC 93642482.
  50. ^ Gunes, Cengiz (11 January 2013). The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance. Routledge. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-1-136-58798-6.
  51. ^ "Still critical: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey". Human Rights Watch. Vol. 17, no. 2. March 2005. p. 3. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  52. ^ Yeğen, Mesut (2015). "The Kurdish Peace Process in Turkey: Genesis, Evolution and Prospects" (PDF). www.files.ethz.ch. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  53. ^ "Kurdish War: The Ceasefire Is Over". Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  54. ^ Turkish air force bombs Kurdish rebels in Iraq: TV report
  55. ^ "YSK ruling throws Ankara into tumultuous search for exit strategy". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  56. ^ "One killed in Kurdish protests in Turkey: politician". France 24. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  57. ^ "Yes, we negotiate with Öcalan" (in Turkish). Ntvmsnbc. December 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  58. ^ "Kurdish Group to Pull Armed Units from Turkey". The Wall Street Journal. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  59. ^ "Anatomy of Protests against the invasion of Kobani". DailySabah. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  60. ^ "KCK official says PKK not responsible for murders of 2 Turkish policemen". Archived from the original on 29 July 2015.
  61. ^ "Turkish jets target Kurds in Iraq, Islamic State militants in Syria". Fox News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  62. ^ "We really can't succeed against ISIL without Turkey: US". Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  63. ^ "The hatred never went away". Economist. 12 September 2015.
  64. ^ "Turkey Kurds: Many dead in Cizre violence as MPs' march blocked". BBC. 10 September 2015.
  65. ^ "Turkey should ensure immediate access to Cizre by independent observers". Council of Europe. 11 September 2015.
  66. ^ Can, Osman (17 June 2021). "The Motion before Turkey's Constitutional Court to Ban the Pro-Kurdish HDP". German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
  67. ^ Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove; Fernandes, Desmond (2008). "Kurds in Turkey and in (Iraqi) Kurdistan: A Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation". Genocide Studies and Prevention. p. 46.
  68. ^ Kingsley, Patrick (29 June 2017). "Amid Turkey's Purge, a Renewed Attack on Kurdish Culture". The New York Times. p. A10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  69. ^ "Turkey bans writing of university dissertations in Kurdish". Arab News. 31 July 2020.
  70. ^ Khalidi, Ari (5 August 2017). "Erdogan claims HDP not Kurds' representative". www.kurdistan24.net. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  71. ^ Zeynep GÜRCANLI- Aysel ALP (22 April 2015). "HDP seçim bildirgesini açıkladı". HÜRRİYET - TÜRKİYE'NİN AÇILIŞ SAYFASI. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  72. ^ Cansu Çamlibel (14 July 2014). "Otoriter lidere alternatifim". HÜRRİYET - TÜRKİYE'NİN AÇILIŞ SAYFASI. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  73. ^ "Turkey replaces four more Kurdish mayors over alleged terror links". Reuters. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  74. ^ a b "The Trustee Regime in Turkey" (PDF). Peoples' Democratic Party. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  75. ^ (GABB), Union of Southeastern Anatolia Region Municipalities. "Imprisoned Co-Mayors from Kurdish Region by Turkish Government" (PDF). Initiative Kurdistan. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  76. ^ "Turkey detains five Kurdish mayors as crackdown continues". Reuters. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  77. ^ Aslan, Senem (2014). Nation-Building in Turkey and Morocco: Governing Kurdish and Berber Dissent. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-19490-4.
  78. ^ "Kürtler bağımsız devlet istiyor mu". odatv (in Turkish). 12 January 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  79. ^ a b "Türkiye'deki Kürtler nasıl bir yönetim şekli istiyor?". www.rudaw.net. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  80. ^ "TURKEY: Kurdish teenager convicted as terrorist for attending demonstration". Los Angeles Times. 10 July 2010.
  81. ^ "Turkey's Campaign Against Kurdish Militants Takes Toll on Civilians". The New York Times. 30 December 2015.
  82. ^ Yurdatapan, Şanar. 2004. "Turkey: Censorship past and present." In Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today, edited by Marie Korpe. London: Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-84277-505-9.
  83. ^ "Chingiz Sadykhov". Creative Work Fund. 2 October 2005. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  84. ^ "1997 human rights watch international film festival". Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  85. ^ "Institut Kurde de Paris". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  86. ^ "Mem u Zîn – A Classic Kurdish Epic from the 17th-Century". ifkurds.de. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  87. ^ "Letters Q, W, And X Were Once Illegal in Turkey". www.amusingplanet.com. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  88. ^ Silverman, Reuben (2015). Turkey's ever present past: Stories from Turkish Republican History. Libra. p. 140. ISBN 978-605-9022-47-7.
  89. ^ Krajeski, Jenna. "Days of Their Lives". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  90. ^ Fuat Dündar (2000). Türkiye Nüfus Sayımlarında Azınlıklar (in Turkish). Civiyazilari. pp. 102–113. ISBN 97 5-80 86-77-4.
  91. ^ a b "The CIA World Factbook: Turkey (18% of a total population of 79.7 million gives a figure of about 14 million)". CIA. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  92. ^ Gunter, Michael M. (4 November 2010). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8108-7507-4. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  93. ^ "Kurdish PKK chief Murat Karayilan says will spread to Turkish cities if we were attacked by Turkey". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  94. ^ "Kurdish political rights and its impact on the Middle East economy and Stability. By Hiwa Nezhadian". ekurd.net. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  95. ^ Ethnologue census of languages in Asian portion of Turkey Archived 2011-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
  96. ^ Sirkeci, Ibrahim (2006). The Environment of Insecurity in Turkey and the Emigration of Turkish Kurds to Germany. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-0-7734-5739-3. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
  97. ^ G. Chaliand, A.R. Ghassemlou, M. Pallis, A People Without A Country, 256 pp., Zed Books, 1992, ISBN 978-1-85649-194-5, p.39
  98. ^ "Kürtlerin nüfusu 11 milyonda İstanbul"da 2 milyon Kürt yaşıyor - Dizi Haberleri". Radikal. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  99. ^ Kurdish Life in Contemporary Turkey: Migration, Gender and Ethnic Identity, Anna Grabolle Celiker, p. 160, I.B.Tauris, 2013
  100. ^ "Kürt Meselesi̇ni̇ Yeni̇den Düşünmek" (PDF). KONDA. July 2010. pp. 19–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  101. ^ Kálnoky, Boris (8 November 2012). "Bevölkerung: Die Kurden und das Geburtenproblem in der Türkei". Die Welt. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  102. ^ Berman, Ilan. "Turkey's Kurdish Arithmetic". Forbes. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  103. ^ a b Martens, Michael (20 October 2010). "Bevölkerungsentwicklung: Schafft auch die Türkei sich ab?". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  104. ^ a b c d e f Yeğen, Mesut (January 2015). "Kürt Seçmenlerin Oy Verme Dinamikleri: Kuzeydoğu-Ortadoğu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu Alt Bölgelerinde Seçmenin Siyasal Tercihlerinin Sosyolojik Analizi" [Voting Dynamics of Kurdish Voters: A Sociological Analysis of Voters' Political Preferences in Northeast-Middle East and Southeast Anatolia Sub-regions] (PDF). yada.org.tr (in Turkish). pp. 36–52. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021.
  105. ^ Houston, Christopher (2005). "Creating a Diaspora within a Country: Kurds in Turkey". In Ember, Melvin; Ember, Carol R.; Skoggard, Ian (eds.). Creating a Diaspora within a Country: Kurds in Turkey. Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Boston, MA: Springer US. p. 405. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_40. ISBN 978-0-387-29904-4.
  106. ^ "Kurd | History, Culture, & Language". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  107. ^ Ingvar Svanberg, Kazak Refugees in Turkey: A Study of Cultural Persistence and Social Change, Academiae Ubsaliensis, 1989, ISBN 978-91-554-2438-1, p. 28. (in English)
  108. ^ Rohat Alakom, Orta Anadolu Kürtleri, Evrensel Basım Yayım, 2004, ISBN 975-6525-77-0. (in Turkish)
  109. ^ Nuh Ateş, İç Anadolu Kürtleri-Konya, Ankara, Kırlşehir, Komkar Yayınları, Köln, 1992, ISBN 3-927213-07-1. (in Turkish)
  110. ^ Rohat Alakom, ibid, p. 14. (in Turkish)
  111. ^ Ayşe Yıldırım, Ç. Ceyhan Suvari, İlker M. İşoğlu, Tülin Bozkurt, Artakalanlar: Anadolu'dan etnik manzaralar, E Yayınları, ISBN 975-390-205-0, p. 166. (in Turkish)
  112. ^ Müslüm Yücel, "Tuz Gölü Kürtleri", I-VIII, Yeni Gündem gazetesi, 2000, İstanbul. (in Turkish)
  113. ^ Atatürk'ün Bütün Eserleri, Kaynak Yayınları, Cilt: 14, ISBN 975-343-400-6, pp. 273–274. (in Turkish)
  114. ^ Hermann Wenzel, Sultan-Dagh und Akschehir-Ova, Kiel, 1932. (in German)
  115. ^ Hermann Wenzel, Forschungen in Inneranatolien II: Die Steppe als Lebensraum, Schriften des Geographische institut Kiel, VII, 3, Kiel, 1937. (in German)
  116. ^ Rohat Alkom, ibid, p. 63. (in Turkish)
  117. ^ Peter Alford Andrews, Türkiye'de Etnik Gruplar, ANT Yayınları, Aralık 1992, ISBN 975-7350-03-6, s. 155.
  118. ^ Dr. Mikaili, "Devlet Kürtçe'ye Kapıları Açtı, Ya Biz Orta Anadolu Kürtleri ?" Archived 12 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Bîrnebûn, Sayı: 45, Bahar 2010, ISSN 1402-7488
  119. ^ "EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Turkey Ranks First in Violations in between 1959-2011". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  120. ^ Annual Report 2014 (PDF). The European Court of Human Rights (Report). Strasbourg. 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  121. ^ The European Court of Human Rights: Case of Benzer and others v. Turkey (PDF) (Report). 24 March 2014. p. 57. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  122. ^ Aisling Reidy (2003). "The prohibition of torture: A guide to the implementation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights" (PDF). European Court of Human Rights. Human rights handbooks, No. 6. pp. 11, 13. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  123. ^ World Report 2002. Human Rights Watch. 2002. p. 7.
  124. ^ Abdulla, Jamal Jalal (7 February 2012). The Kurds: A Nation on the Way to Statehood. AuthorHouse. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4678-7972-9. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  125. ^ "Police arrest and assistance of a lawyer" (PDF). European Court of Human Rights. 2015. p. 1.
  126. ^ "Justice Comes from European Court for a Kurdish Journalist". Kurdish Human Rights Project. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  127. ^ Kucukgocmen, Ali (22 December 2020). "European Court of Human Rights says Turkey must free Demirtas". Reuters. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  128. ^ "Turkey ordered to release opposition leader". BBC News. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  129. ^ "itemid":%5b"001-187961"%5d} "CASE OF SELAHATTİN DEMİRTAŞ v. TURKEY (No. 2)". European Court of Human Rights. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  130. ^ "Turkish court keeps Selahattin Demirtas in jail despite ECHR". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  131. ^ "ECRI report on Turkey (4th cycle)" (PDF).
  132. ^ "Implementation of the Helsinki Accords Criminalizing Parliamentary Speech in Turkey. Briefing by the International Human Rights Law Group." May 1994. Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Washington DC. Archived 24 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  133. ^ "Ankara's Decision to Sentence Leyla Zana: A Blatant Violation of Freedom of Expression". Congressional Record. Vol. 144, no. 141. 9 October 1998. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  134. ^ A. Manafy (1 January 2005). The Kurdish Political Struggles in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey: A Critical Analysis. University Press of America. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7618-3003-0.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurdish people in Turkey.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurds_in_Turkey&oldid=1256499867"