The Internally Displaced Kurds of Turkey

CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS / 13
FOREWORD / 15

PART ONE: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW:
THE KURDS AND DISPLACEMENT / 17
A. A Brief History of the Kurds / 17
B. The Origins of Internal Displacement in Turkey / 18
PART TWO: VILLAGE EVACUATION DURING THE 1990s CONFLICT / 25
A. The PKK Conflict and the State of Emergency: 1984 – 1999 / 25
B. Village Evacuation in the 1990s / 27

PART THREE: TURKEY’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
TOWARDS THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED / 29
A. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 29
B. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights / 30
C. Common Article 3 and Protocol II of the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 / 31
D. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement / 35
E. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and / 38

PART FOUR: EU ACCESSION AND THE PROBLEM OF THE
INTERNALLY DISPLACED / 43
A. Assessment of Turkish Reforms / 44
B. The Hacettepe Survey / 45

PART FIVE: TURKISH PROGRAMMES OF RETURN
AND RESETTLEMENT / 49
A. Centralised Villages Project / 50
B. Return to Village Project of the Southeast Restoration Project / 52
C. Return to Village and Rehabilitation Project / 54
D. East and Southeast Anatolia Action Plan / 59
PART SIX: OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF THE
COMPENSATION LAW / 61
A. The Compensation Mechanism / 62
B. Criticisms of the Compensation Law / 64
1. Exclusion from Compensation / 64
2. Unrealistic Demands for Evidence and Other Evidentiary Issues / 68
3. Lack of Independence and Conflicts of Interest / 72
4. Exclusion of Non-Pecuniary Damages / 74
5. Delay in Processing Claims / 75
6. No Possibility of Return / 77
7. Inadequate Mechanisms for Appeal in Domestic and International / 78
8. Lack of Legal Assistance for Applicants / 80
9. The Question of Payment / 82
10. Arbitrary Calculations and Reductions in Awards / 83

PART SEVEN: CONDITIONS AND DIFFICULTIES FACED
BY INTERNALLY DISPLACED KURDS / 87
A. The Security Situation / 87
1. Resurgence in Armed Clashes and Intimidation / 87
2. The Village Guards / 89
3. Landmines / 91
4. Climate of Impunity / 91
B. Access to Resources, Public Services and Infrastructure / 93
1. Education / 94
2. Socio-economic Disadvantage / 94
3. Social issues / 95

PART EIGHT: THE WAY FORWARD / 99
APPENDIX 1: Law 5233 / 105
APPENDIX 2: Law 5442 / 113