The Situation of Kurdish Children in Turkey

Turkey: the Situation of Kurdish Children [English, London, 2004]

The Situation of Kurdish Children in Turkey [English, London, 2010]

THE SITUATION OF KURDISH CHILDREN IN TURKEY – FACT-FINDING MISSION & RESEARCH REPORT

There are an estimated 15 million Kurds in Turkey. Comprising 23 per cent of the country’s population, the Kurds are Turkey’s largest non-Turkish ethnic group. According to census data, one quarter of the Turkish population is under 15. Accurate figures for the percentage of children under 18 are difficult to find given that the Turkish census only aggregates demographic data according to those aged 0-14, 15-64 and 65 years and over. However the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), estimate that approximately 36 per cent of Turkey’s population is under the age of 19, and applying this percentage to the Kurdish population we can roughly estimate that there are around 5,400,000 or more Kurdish children aged 19 and under in Turkey. In line with the mandate of promoting and protecting human rights in the Kurdish regions, in 2004 the KHRP produced a report on the situation of Kurdish children in Turkey, which was developed from desk-based research. KHRP decided to follow up on this report in 2008 in order to assess what improvements, if any, had been made in the intervening period.

The 2004 report was produced in the wake of the assessment of Turkey’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 2001. Immediately following this assessment a number of NGOs had produced their own reviews of Turkey’s compliance, and as a result, there was a dearth of new investigative material. Since then, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has gone onto review in December 2007, Turkey’s report under Article 8, paragraph 1, of the optional protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and in September 2009, the Turkish government’s responses to the Committee’s list of issues. The continued policy of the Turkish state which does not distinguish between its citizens ethnic/cultural/linguistic origins makes it difficult to gather information or data on any specific sub-group of the Kurdish population, including children. This problem is magnified by the fact that many of the international organisations working in Turkey that KHRP contacted, did not distinguish between the Turkish and Kurdish population within their work. A report developed solely from desk-based research would therefore not be sufficient to produce a comprehensive assessment of the situation of Kurdish children in Turkey...

CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS / 13
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY / 15
1. KURDISH CHILDREN IN TURKEY: A BACKGROUND / 21
a) History of the Kurdish People in Turkey / 21
b) Demographics / 21
c) Turkey’s Economy / 22
d) Income Inequality and Development in the Kurdish Region / 22
e) Language and Cultural Issues Affecting Kurdish Populations / 24

2. TURKEY’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS / 27
a) The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms / 29
b) The European Social Charter / 30
c) EU Accession Bid Obligations / 30
d) United Nations Conventions / 31

3. HOUSING, HEALTH AND NUTRITION / 35
a) Housing Problems in the Kurdish Region of Turkey / 35
i. Successes and Problems in Compliance/Implementation / 35
b) International Obligations/  36
i. International Housing Obligations / 36
ii. International Health and Nutrition Obligations / 37
c) Health and Nutrition Problems in the Kurdish Region / 44
i. The General Health Situation / 44
ii. Impact of Internal Displacement on Health and Nutrition / 48
iii. The Green Card System and Institutionalised Discrimination / 53
iv. Regional Initiatives and Role of Central Government / 57
v. Conclusions and Recommendations / 59

4. EDUCATION / 61
a) International Education Obligations / 61
b) Education in Turkey: The General Situation / 61
c) Lack of Resources for Education / 62
d) Access to Education / 67
e) Access - Kurdish Language / 68
i. Nationalism in Education / 70
f) Access - Cost and Education / 70
g) Access - Gender and Access to Education / 74
h) Conclusions and Recommendations / 75

5. STREET CHILDREN AND CHILD LABOUR / 77
a) International Child Rights Obligations / 75
b) General Introduction to Street Children and Child Labour in Turkey / 75
c) Causes of Child Labour / 79
d) Effects of Child Labour / 82
e) Protection of Children in Turkey / 85
f) Conclusions and Recommendations / 93

6. GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION / 95
a) Gender Discrimination in Education / 95
b) Early and Non-consensual Marriage / 98
c) Honour Killings / 101
d) Forced Prostitution, Human Trafficking and Rape / 105
e) Conclusions and Recommendations / 108

7. VIOLENCE IN THE HOME / 111
a) Domestic Violence: State Protection / 112
i. The Social Services Agency / 116
ii. The Medical System / 116
iii. The Legal System / 117
b) Violence and Culture / 119
c) Conclusions and Recommendations / 121

8. JUVENILE JUSTICE / 123
a) International Legal Obligations / 123
b) Juvenile Legal Protection in Turkey / 123
i. Political vs. Non-Political Crime / 124
ii. Types of Children Courts / 124
iii. Special Rules Applicable to Children / 124
c) Problems with Legal Framework / 126
d) Children in Armed Conflict and Juvenile Justice / 128
e) Political Activism / 130
i. Naivety of Children Taking Part in Demonstrations / 130
ii. Reasons for Growth in Children’s Participation / 131
iii. Cultural Attitudes and Gendered Participation / 131
iv. Special Suspicion towards Children / 132
v. Criminalisation of Children / 133
vi. Lack of Measures for Children / 134
f) Legal Harassment / 138
g) Physical and Mental Abuse / 141
h) Incarceration and Mistreatment / 145
i) Conclusions and Recommendations / 149

9. CONCLUSIONS AND OVERARCHING RECOMMENDATIONS / 153

APPENDIX I: LIST OF QUESTIONS PUT TO TURKISH AUTHORITIES / 157

1. KURDISH CHILDREN IN TURKEY: A BACKGCKGROUND
a) History of the Kurdish People in Turkey

Both the social oppression and the forced displacement of the Kurdish population in south-east Turkey have a long history. The south-east region of Turkey has historically been predominantly Kurdish. The history of ethnic diversity in Turkey is highly complex, but it is marked by the consistent disenfranchisement of its largest minority, the Kurds. For the Kurds, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Turkish nation state in 1923 did little to alter their social and political position. During World War I, the Ottomans usurped Kurdish tribal lands and forced mass resettlement. Significantly, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which defined Turkish independence and paved the way for protection of non-Muslim minorities including Armenians, Greeks and Jews, made no mention of the Kurdish people. After Turkish independence, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his followers attempted to create a homogenous and unified Turkey. This involved the suppression of minority cultures and, in an attempt to integrate and homogenise the population, the mass displacement of the Kurdish peoples. The forced displacement of the Kurds under the Law of Resettlement (1934) briefly slowed during the 1950s. However, armed conflict between the Turkish military and the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK) between 1984 and 1999 renewed the government’s policies of forced displacement and cultural oppression. It is estimated that between 1984 and 1999, over 3 million Kurds were displaced from their villages, that approximately3,000 of the 5,000 Kurdish villages in the south-east of Turkey were partially or completely evacuated, and that roughly 37,000 people were killed...

THE SITUATION OF KURDISH CHILDREN IN TURKEY – FACT-FINDING MISSION & RESEARCH REPORT

BY KERIM YILDIZ, RACHEL BERNU AND JULIANNE STEVENSON

JANUARY 2010

KURDISH HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT
BAR HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Kurdish Human Rights Project
11 Guilford Street
London
WC1N 1DH, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 207 405-3835
Fax: +44 (0) 207 404-9088
khrp@khrp.org
www.khrp.org
The Kurdish Human Rights Project is an independent, non-political human rights organisation founded and based in London, England. A registered charity, it is dedicated
to promoting and protecting the human rights of all people in the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and elsewhere, irrespective of race, religion, sex, political persuasion or other belief or opinion. Its supporters include Kurdish and non-Kurdish people.

Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Garden Court Chambers
57-60 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3LS, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7993 7755
Fax: +44 (0) 207993 7700
bhrc@compuserve.com
www.barhumanrights.org.uk
The Bar Human Rights Committee is the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales. It is an independent body primarily concerned with the protection
of the rights of advocates and judges around the world. It is also concerned with defending the rule of law and internationally recognised legal standards relating
to the right to a fair trial. The remit of the BHRC extends to all countries of the world, apart from its own jurisdiction of England and Wales.


Layout & Design: Torske & Sterling Legal Marketing
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Keywords: Human Rights, Children’s Rights, IDPs, Kurdish Rights, Kurdish Children,
Juvenile Justice, Fact-finding Mission, Turkey.

Printed in Great Britain
January 2010

Published by KHRP (London)

ISBN 978-1-905592-29-6
All rights reserved