Only STGM is responsible for the content of this publication which does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union

ISSN 1306-5297

Bulletin of Civil Society Development for Active Participation project implemented by STGM and supported by the European Union. Published every two months.

December 2010 • Sayı 26

Those who do not respect others’ freedoms alsojeopardize their own freedoms.Endless and uncompromising discussions dominate over the agenda of our country whenever the current issue becomes faith and its expression. The desire to control the activities of religious groups after the declaration of the republic in Turkey and the historical conditions in the world created a totalitarian system instead of a liberal one. In the following years, while the western world, in particular, adopted a more pluralist attitude towards the freedom of expression, Turkey embraced secularism as a system which is the only authority in religious issues and a particular religious faith was always favored over others. These conditions brought Turkey now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, to a point which is not so positive in terms of the freedom of expression and religion.

In this respect, the existence and the function of the Directorate of Religious Affairs as a means of the State to control the religious affairs usually give rise to intense discussions. The laws according to which the institution was founded require it to be responsible from Islamic religious affairs; however, it seems to serve for only the Sunni sect of Islam in practice.

Though the size of Alevi population has always been a matter of discussion, it is clear that Alevi people are one of the greatest groups who come up against difficulties because of their religious belief. Alevi religious organizations lost their legal ground when all “tekke”s and “zawyah”s1 were shut down. Among the demands of Alevi people are giving the “Cemevi” the status of a place of worship, removing religion classes in primary schools or modifying the curriculum of the subject which is currently under the monopoly of Sunni sect and granting Alevi religious officials the same rights with imams. Although the negotiations between the government and Alevi people have not been resulted yet, they might be seen as a positive start followed also by other religious communities.

At the end of the 19th century, about 20 % of the population in Turkey was non-Muslim but this rate dropped to about 0.2 % at the end of the 20th century2. Armenian, Jewish and Greek societies are giving a struggle for their existence in Turkey after the historical turning points which caused their population to drop. The Armenian society is not permitted to choose its own patriarch, the Greek Church cannot open its theological school to teach its own religious officials and Jewish people also get their share from

the racist discourse caused by the hatred against Israel. The Protestant society cannot open their places of worship and is trying to survive under intense prejudices against it. Their efforts to express themselves are judged as “missionary practices” with all negative implications of the term. Syriacs and Yazidis largely emigrated from Turkey to Western countries due to oppressions and financial reasons. Baha’i faith, on the other hand, is not accepted a separate religious identity.

One of the hottest issues today is the headscarf controversy. The rules conducted by the state especially after 1980 concerning

where and how the Muslim women should cover their heads created serious unjust treatments. Educational and employment rights of women who want to cover their heads were restricted.

Despite there are many other problems of freedom all of which we cannot all mention here, it gives us reason to hope that we will see positive developments in this field due to the EU harmonization process and seeing that the society is getting more conscious. Nevertheless, we should remember that “those who do not respect freedoms of others also jeopardize their own freedoms.”

İhsan ÖzbekMember of the Administrative Board of the Association of STGMPresident of the Salvation Churches in Turkey

1 Buildings designed for religious gatherings.2 Yerasimos, Stefanos. Azgelişmişlik Sürecinde Türkiye, Gözlem Yayınları , Istanbul: 1980. p. 547.

December 1, World AIDS Day On December 1, World AIDS Day, many campaigns and activities are carried out every year to raise the consciousness of HIV and AIDS, which were first identified on 1 December 1981, and of the protection from them. The red ribbon has become a symbol of 1 December World AIDS Day with its meanings “I know AIDS, I am protected against AIDS, and I respect people died of AIDS.” (www.bianet.org)

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The theme of this issue is the freedom of religion and conscience which has always been the subject of the current and intense discussions. That individuals and societies should enjoy their freedom of religion and conscience is of course also evaluated under the title of human rights but we found cultural rights as an apt title under which the subject can be discussed due to the fact that the members of a faith system who are under oppression also

What do you think of living as an Alevi in a country in which Sunnis are the majority?We should consider the history. Alevis have been oppressed and cast out from the society for 1500 years. In the foundation period of the Ottoman Empire, Hacı Bektaşi Veli was asked for his support. Nevertheless, later, Alevis were victimized in Çaldıran War by Shah İsmail, Kuyucu Murat and Mahmut II. After the foundation of the Ottoman Empire, Alevis were no longer in peace with the Ottomans; they had to isolate themselves and performed their religious rituals in secret. Pir Sultan tried to explain Alevism to the Padishah, qadi4s, and the administrators of the time,However he could not succeed. So, the Alevis living in this country have been oppressed and had to live their faith secretly for hundreds of years. How about today?Alevis have been organized for about 20 years. The only reason for being organized is to be able to perform our religious rituals freely. The cruelty committed against us remained in the past but it is still better to be known. The Article 10 of the Constitution states that “all persons are equal regardless of their religion, language, or race and they

How do you describe being a Baha’i in country in which the Sunnis are the majority?First of all I should state that I am answering these questions as a member of the Baha’i society but according to my own personal opinions. I am not in an official position of foreign affairs of the Baha’i society now. Baha’i faith has the perspective to accept people from all religious or belief systems with tolerance, respect and love since there is a principle of unity in unity and diversity. In this respect, being a Baha’i enriches the variety in a country in which the majority of the population is Sunni Muslims. Baha’i faith accepts Islam and other religions before; it does not reject them. We, human beings, should not regard each other as different beings. We should see and treat human beings as if we are all branches of the same tree or the leaves of the same branch. We might then abstain ourselves from prejudice, egocentrism and hatred. We were all created by the same god after all. If some of us call it “nature”, we respect them, too.

give a struggle to live their culture and to make it survive. Alevis, Sunnis, Yazidis, Syriacs, Protestants and Baha’is informed us about their organizational process and problems. Since there is no Atheist organization in Turkey, we tried to reflect the problems of an atheist. We also reached a Jewish organization but we could not communicate with it in the preparation period of the bulletin. Let’s listen to the problems of these organizations now.

are free to live by their faith.” We, in this country, pay our taxes and do the military service as everyone but we are exposed to discrimination. We have no problem with our Sunni neighbors or friends; our problem is with the state and its government. Whether the state accepts it or not, Cemevleri5 are our places of worship.

There are workshops about Alevis and today’s government says they want Alevi people to perform their religious duties freely. Nevertheless, no positive steps have been taken yet.What kind of troubles do you have?

In this country there are people belonging to a variety of belief systems each of which has its own place of worship. While these places are opened with the participation of high state officials with official launches, cemevleri are ignored. We demand that cemevleri should be legalized and accepted officially as places of worship. Cemevleri are not alternatives to mosques. The Directorate of Religious Affairs should be autonomous. Teaching only the Sunni faith at schools is wrong. Alevism should also be taught so that the prejudice and slander against Alevi people in society today may be eliminated. The Alevi movement

has never resorted to violence for 1500 years. Even if there are some slight problems among Alevi organizations, we do not believe that an unorganized society could be successful. Let’s be one, be stronger and be vigorous.

Are you having any troubles?

No. We are not experiencing any serious troubles.

What do you think about the point of view of the state about Baha’ism?

In a secular country freedom of religion and conscience is under the guarantee of the constitution. So having Baha’i or another faith is of course under this guarantee. The people of this country are valuable and so are the

In Eskişehir, we interviewed with Hüseyin Ateş, the President of the Hacı Bektaşi Veli Association and Şevki Demir, an Alevi Dede3.

We interviewed with Violet Bağçuvan, from Adana Baha’i Women Society

Cultural Rights

“Let’s be one, be stronger and be vigorous”

“Baha’ism is under the guarantee of constitution, too”

3 Dede: A religious leader in Alevi community.4 Qadi: A judge according to Islamic religious law.5 cemevleri: plural form of “cemevi”.

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What do you think about the situation of the freedom of religion and conscience in Turkey?

The issue of the freedom of religion and conscience in Turkey presents us with an intricate picture in which the prevailing mentality and victimized groups try to bust each other because of policies of Republic period and especially secularist practices. The ruling Kemalist secularist mentality seems to have played its tricks until recently seeing that the attitude of the victimized parts of the society to each other has manifested itself by playing ostrich. Nevertheless, for the last few years we may talk about some transparency in the field of the freedom of religion and conscience as in many other issues in the agenda of the country as a result of the activities of NGOs and the cooperation of groups who have different views of life. In a country in which the foundational characteristic of the republic is Sunni Islam, the picture today does not satisfy Sunni Muslims, Alevis, or any other groups having different belief systems nor the dominant mentality itself. In the last few years, the problems of Muslims, Alevis, Christians, and those who do not believe in any religions in Turkey have been articulated more strongly and this makes it possible for the victimized parts of the society to notice the existence and problems of each other. We have actually many problems in living by one’s beliefs, survive as a member of a belief system, we live in a country where priests were killed, or the having the right not to believe. Sunni Muslims say that their way of living by their beliefs is forced to be changed, manipulated and restricted by the dominant secularist mentality; Alevis fight for their rights by stating that their identities are ignored and tried to be assimilated through compulsory religion lessons at schools, and their

Cemevleri should be granted places of worship. Christians demand primarily that their theological school be reopened so that they could teach their own religious officials, which is a basis of their existence. Another problem that we can count in the field of the freedom of religion and conscience in Turkey is the demand not to belong to any religious system and the

“religion” part in identity cards to be deleted.

What are the peculiar problems of women in putting the freedom of religion and conscience into practice?

Of course I cannot know exactly what kind of problems those women who belong to different religious beliefs I mentioned above have. However, I do know that people from NGOs and those who do not work in NGOs have sometimes complained about various oppressions and indirect imposture of enforcements by the majority against

unreligious people, regardless of their being men or women. Moreover, oppressions against women in terms of their wearing style according to their religion is worthy of notice. The news that we heard a few days ago about an imam who was sentenced to jail is Spain because of forcing a woman to cover her hair is also an important development for us. Just at this point a reverse situation in our country appears as an important problem of realizing the freedom of religion and conscience. The problem which has a history of decades and I personally have experienced is ignoring the rights of women to cover their heads, which also entails their rights to have education and employment wearing a headscarf. This problem, after 28 September post-modern coup, has turned out to be a threat over women that affects and restricts their lives from many different points both directly and indirectly and that even threatens their existence. In fact, while we wanted to question the perception of a false image of a

institutions they build. In my opinion, one of the most important duties of states is to do a good research of the content of the communities, NGOs and religious groups in their countries. If the research is done well, then, I believe, there is no reason to worry for anyone. We should consider that there might be a few prejudiced people in state’s institutions as in any other place and we should not extend it to the whole mechanism of the state. Otherwise, that would be doing injustice to their efforts.What do you think about the activities of Baha’is in Adana and Turkey in general? Do you think they are satisfying enough?

Unfortunately, young people and those who are well-off emigrate in increasing numbers from Adana to other cities. There are, of course, members and founders, both women and men, who work devotedly in our organizations, associations and other institutions. Moreover, we are very lucky in terms of civilian authorities, the police, municipalities, judiciary, press and the media which open their doors to NGOs.

Think about the rings of a chain. If the rings are chained to each other strongly, it will be hard to break it. However, if each ring craves after living on its own, they are broken up from each other and the strength and power of the whole chain is nullified. We are like such a chain. We should come together in order to keep our greatness, power and unity and should not seek after our egos. Baha’i society is in cooperation with all NGOs, which do

not have separatist or destroying aims, official and educational institutions on local and national levels, obeying the rules of the state. Our aim in this cooperation is to help solving difficulties in the development of our neighborhood, city, district and country. The activities of the Baha’i society in Turkey are carried out through different commission of youth, women, child and family. In these commissions we are carrying out some activities on human rights, women’s rights, child rights, nature, finding solutions to financial problems and developing the dialogue between the institution and the society.

Fatma Akdokur, member of Capital City Women’s Platform and STGM Association, informed us about the problems of covered women.

“The victimized parts are playing ostrich”

Positive Life Association was on the street on 1 December World AIDS Day with 50 different institutions from 32 cities. According to the data given by the Ministry of Health, there are 4 thousand 177 people living with HIV/AIDS in Turkey between the years 1985-2010. According the report of the association on violations of rights in the term August 2008-December 2009, health institutions are the places in which people with HIV are exposed to the greatest violation. Other problem fields are discrimination at work, in social environment, family and media. (www.bianet.org)

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Do you think people who belong to different religions can have the chance to live according to their religion in Turkey? What do you think about Turkey and Europe in terms of the freedom of religion and conscience?

As a representative who do politics outside Turkey and as a person in a commission which carries out activities between Turkey and Europe, when I look at the picture in Turkey I can see that Turkey has a 90% Muslim population. The Yazidi, Christians, Alevis, Chaldeans, Armenians, and Syriac are not allowed to practices their religious worshipping freely. There is a mosque in every village but there is no place of worship arranged for Alevis or Yazidis. When we say that there is a Muslim part which makes the 90 % of the whole population, then, does it mean that only the 10 % of the population is composed of Alevis, Syriacs or Yazidis, who belong to other religions? The data are inaccurate here. According to these data, we see that children are forced to attend religion classes at schools. Children from other religions had to attend these classes, too. That’s why there is no freedom of religion and conscience in Turkey.

Turkey is accepted as a Muslim country in Europe. I think a woman could express herself better five years ago. Since AKP held the government you see all the women have been covered. Yes, we acknowledge that this is a Muslim country

religious woman seeing that there are many problems centered on women on the basis of a religious life, which need to be reevaluated, bans on headscarf caused us to move away from facing all these problems and confined us into the problem of headscarf because the demand to lift these bans gains a vitality that cannot be delayed. For women the possibility to develop an identity as an individual and to realize their role in society as social, economic and political actors depends firstly on their full enjoyment of their rights to education and employment.

What does the Capital City Women’s Platform do about women’s freedom of religion and conscience?

Capital City Women’s Platform is in fact a women’s rights association in terms of its foundational principles and the mission we want to undertake. We aimed at the beginning to contribute to a reevaluation, and perhaps the rebuilding, if necessary, of both the society and the system in which we live and also of the religious life and the perception of religion in the society. Nevertheless, due to the fact that most of our members are working covered women and we have undertaken an efficient struggle against

but we can see that in the last few year Turkey is competing with Iran in terms of actualizing an Islamic life. The simplest example to this is that when you go to the marketplace for shopping, you see that all clothing, even wedding dresses, is designed according to covered woman.

In Europe every religion has its own place of worship and they can practice their worship without any problems. The state can sometimes financially support some places. But of course in Europe, too, in some schools children are not allowed to school wearing headscarves according to new laws, for instance in France and Belgium.

All Kurdish people had Yazidi belief before. Yazidis had 72 commands. The 73rd command is the one in Şengal. There are about 500 Yazidis in Turkey now and they live in the Yazidi villages of Viranşehir, Batman, Beşiri and Midyat. The Yazidis left Turkey because they could not practice their religions freely. In Europe there are

Yazidi Houses where they offer condolences, say “beyit”, and carry out other religious ceremonies and festivals. In Turkey, on the other hand, since there are few Yazidis in the same city, they have difficulties in coming together. Usually there are 3 or 5 families living in different villages. So they cannot come together and had to live practice their rituals with their families.

the bans on headscarf which coincided almost with our date of foundation, our platform was perceived as an institution which only deals with the headscarf issue. In this respect, our activities in the context of the freedom of religion and conscience for the most part are about lifting the ban on headscarf. However, our members also participate in and contribute to various activities, researches, workshop activities and projects carried out by different NGOs, both from Turkey and other countries, in the field of the freedom of religion and conscience.

What does your organization suggest for the solution headscarf controversy?

We accept the ban on headscarf as one of the most basic hindrances before the enjoyment of women of their rights to education and employment. So, we advocate that this ban must be lifted and the freedom of these women must be guaranteed by the constitution without any restrictive preconditions and without differentiating between the status of those “who give service” and those “who are given service” in the context of the discussions on public field.

Below is a translation of an interview in Kurdish with Feleknas Uca, who is a Yazidi from Turkey living in Germany, a former member of European Parliament and an activist of women’s rights.

“Muslims are freezing the Yazidi out”

December 3, International Day of Persons with DisabilitiesThe United Nations declared 3 December as the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities” in 1992. Then, 3 December was recognized with the aim of “reintegrating the persons with disabilities to the society and realizing human rights fully and equally”.

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What kind of arrangements should be made for Yazidis living in Turkey so that they could express their culture and religion freely? How can Europe contribute to such a process? Are there any activities in this issue?

Democracy, peace and brotherhood come first! If there is brotherhood and peace, everyone can live freely. We are still discussing whether we can defend ourselves in the court in Kurdish. When this country is not yet ready for allowing us to defend ourselves in Kurdish in the court, the possibility of Yazidis to have a complete freedom of practicing their religion and culture is not realistic. Not now. Suppose that Yazidis came back. They would want to carry out their rituals and sing “beyit”s in Kurdish and they will be sued for that. If you ask the situation of religion in Turkey to the Director of Religious Affairs, he would say that the 90 % is Muslim. How will the Yazidi express themselves in this 90 %? If there is a mosque in every Yazidi village, how will they express themselves in that village? Would not there be a conflict between them? In our villages we observe that Muslim families do not eat the food offered by a Yazidi, for instance the food served in Yazidi funerals. How can Yazidis live comfortably seeing all this?

First of all, Yazidis should be accepted as a religious minority. A state guarantee is needed for the worshipping rights of Yazidi people. Their places of worship must be financially supported and most importantly, the expression of “Yazidi” should be allowed to be written in the “religion” section on their ID card. This is a problem of identity. The social and physical lives of those whose identities are not under the guarantee of the law are in danger. This is proved by the murder of three people who published the Bible in Malatya some years ago, and the murder of a Christian priest in Trabzon. Most importantly, ninety per cent of Yazidi people were forced to leave their lands. There should be a basic change in Turkey to have them

What kind of problems do the atheists in Turkey have?

Those who show the most respect to the freedom of conscience are atheists because we do not carry out any campaign to promulgate our non-belief. Of course, for me it is absurd to believe in a god but I do not contempt people who have beliefs and I do not force them to non-belief. Nevertheless, religious people show the same respect only to a certain degree even if they claim that their religion orders them to respect human beings and their beliefs.

Are you afraid of releasing your identity?

I cannot even imagine what may happen to me in this country if I happen to say that I do not believe in the existence of god. So I do not express it in public that I do not believe in god. Of course, this

back here. Such a change must be realized in every field of life, not just in words. Even if such changes happen, it is not certain whether Yazidi people come back. Future will answer this.

Although we give a continuous struggle for the rights of Yazidi people, the European Parliament did not choose it as the subject of one of its special sessions. Christians, Assyrian-Chalcedons, Alevis and Yazidis were taken together in the discussions related to Turkey. The European Parliament and the Commission made suggestions about the rights of the religious minority in general. Whenever Europe brings up this issue, Turkey reacts and states that it is a matter of its internal affairs. When we wanted to enter the court house for the trial of KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union), we stated that we

are MPs but the police said “No, stop. You are MPs only in your own countries; your status is not valid within our boundaries.” Perhaps their reaction to me might be understandable; I am Kurdish and I am known. But when they show the same to a European MP, how can they talk about the democracy of Turkey? This incident caused serious reactions in Europe. While Turkey declares its desire to be part of EU because it sees itself as part of Europe, it does not recognize the status of an MP from Europe. Turkey went backwards in the process of EU membership because of the practices in the last few years. We think this is due to

the fact that Turkey does not really want to be a member or the EU because it believes that it has a power in the Middle East. It thinks it serves as bridge between Europe and the Middle East and believes that it can be self-sufficient. It thinks it is the greatest power in the NATO.

Translated from Kurdish to Turkish by Şerko Aydoğan

is a tragicomic situation. Can you believe that even at this age it may cause a great reaction if one does not worship a god?

Bir ateist olarak ne tür talepleriniz var?

I do not want to hear “ezan” five times a day. It is a violation of rights. On the other hand, if Muslims, Christians and the Jewish have the right to call people to prayer, then atheists, too, must have places where they can call people to non-belief. The Directorate of Religious Affairs must supply places for atheists and stop sermons which point atheists as a target. They say that atheists will go to hell. Let’s suppose it true but why are they trying to destroy those people in this world who are already doomed to go to hell? Do they have the right to show us as a target? An institution of the state should not have the right to do this.

Since the freedom of religion and conscience includes the freedom to non-belief, we wanted to interview with atheists, too. As far as we know there is no atheist organization in Turkey. For that reason we interviewed with an atheist who does not want his name to be covered.

Atheists’ Freedom to Non-Belief

12.29 per cent of the population in Turkey, which is equal to 8.5 million people, has disabilities. The rate is 11.10 per cent for men and 13.45 for women. Turkish Confederation of Disabled People organized the Equal Citizenship Marching against Discrimination in Ankara on 3 December 2010.

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Armenians living in Turkey celebrated the first mass after 95 years in the historical Akdamar Church in Van which was turned into a museum in 2007. Hundreds of Armenians attended the mass which was watched by a large group of journalists. The church, which was built in the 10th Century on Akdamar Island, is one of the living evidences of the cultural and religious richness of Turkey. The first service in the church, in which the state officials gave permission for one service to be held a year, was attracted a great deal of attention.

The second service was in Diyarbakır. For the first time after 30 years sounds of prayer were heard in Surp Giragos Church, which is the greatest Armenian Church in the Middle East. Many Armenians

İzmir Alevi Road Cultural Association demanded that the compulsory religion classes be removed. In the press release given by İzzet Özketen, the President of İzmir Alevi Road Cultural Association, it was stated that the compulsory religion classes are against the constitution and Turkey must be convicted by its own laws and by the European Human Rights Court. It was also stressed that no one can be forced to learn or choose a religion by the state.

Özketen said, “The state cannot be a state of religion and it can never force a particular religion to be learned. However, this very situation started 50 years ago and has been developing for 8 years. The state cannot have institutions or organizations of religious affairs. We, as Alevi Road Cultural Association, who have been directly affected by such practices, call everyone who defend the priority of science and reason and who defend a

scientific and secular education to oppose strongly to compulsory religion classes being aware of the fact that they have become that victims of this problem.”

living in Diyarbakır visited the church whose restoration is still in progress.

Aram Ateşyan, the Deputy Patriarch Archbishop of the Armenians living in Turkey, said, “Our mothers used to sleep us here to be able to find seats in the festival that would be held for the other day. Today we are devoid of that kind of a crowd but their souls are here with us.” He stated that they ask for the support of people from all over the world for the restoration

of the church and they have managed a great deal so far. He also added, “We are going to open here for service with a great ceremony just like the church in Akdamar. We are also happy to know that this has always been our church; it was never taken from us. I hope we will hold the service here next year and we expect that many people will attend it.”

The bells tolled for the freedom of conscience

We do not want compulsory religion classes

GenderMurders of women are on the agendaThe 13th Women’s Shelter Houses and Centers of Counseling and Solidarity Congress, hosted by Aydın-Söke Women’s Shelter House Association, will be held in Söke on 17 December.

This year the main topic of the congress is the murders of women. Women’s organizations have long been defending their right to be heard as a party to legal proceedings due to the fact that women are exposed to violence or even killed because of their gender.

The 13th Congress of the Shelter Houses and Counseling and Solidarity Centers, hosted by Aydın-Söke Women’s Shelter House Association, is the largest platform of the struggle against the violence against women in Turkey.

The congress has the aims of strengthening the struggle against the violence against women,

providing shelter houses and centers of counseling and solidarity a function according to which they could supply women and children a life without violence, managing them according to feminist methods and also developing the solidarity and cooperation between women’s organizations.

Among the organizers of the congress are Purple Roof, Akdam (Adana Women’s Counseling Center and Shelter House), Antalya Women’s Solidarity Association, Çekev (Çiğli Evka2 Women’s Culture House Association), İzmir Women’s Solidarity Center, Kapadokya Women’s Solidarity Center, Muş Women’s Association, Kamer Foundation, Selis, VAKAD (Van Women’s Association), Van Saray Women’s Association, Söke Women’s Shelter House Association, KADAV (Women’s Solidarity Foundation), Şahmaran Women’s Solidarity and Research Center Association, and ELDER (Association to Utilize Handiwork).

December 10, Human Rights WeekThe United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. In the 10th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1958 was recognized as the International Human Rights Day.

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MorEl Eskişehir LGBTT Formation carried out the “Workshop of Concepts” in STGM Eskişehir YDM (Help Support Center) on 31 October. About 25 people attended the workshop which started with a warm up game. The workshop continued with the game “Social Roles”. Pairs were asked to act out different persons in given situations. Each pair was allowed 5 minutes to share their short plays with other participants of the workshop. The game attracted quite an interest and all the pairs performed their acts.

After the game a video called “Cinsiyet Belası (Gender Trouble)” was shown to help clarify the concepts of “transgender” and “queergender”, which are getting more and more used every day. For about two hours after the video show there was a discussion on prejudices and different definitions of the concepts. The workshop was carried out with enjoyable and questioning discussions and ended with participants’ wishing of its continuation next year.

MorEl (Purple Hand) discussed concepts in STGM

Human Rights

Peace and Democracy Symposium was attended by Bergama Environment Platform, Dikili Public Education Center, unions, representatives of associations, Eğitim-Sen (Education Union), Dikili Disabled People’s Association, Dikili Association for Women’s Solidarity, Dikili Atatürkist Thought Association, Dikili Hacı Bektaşi Veli Association, representatives of public institution, foundations and political parties and also by Swedish MPs and Greek guests.

The Association for Rights to Education made a press release in their building on 6 November, due to the 29th anniversary of the foundation of the Council of Higher Education, and stated, “YÖK, which is a product of the coup in 12 Septem-ber 1980, is still standing solid even today while settling accounts with 12 September is an issue which is repeatedly brought up these days.”

Ozan Devrim Yay, the Co-president, who spoke on behalf of the Administrative Board of the Association for the Rights to Education, stressed the fact that “we still see the oppressing face of 12 September through YÖK despite all those democ-ratization discourse.”

Yay criticized the oppressions and attacks on the students in the universities in Eskişehir, one of which happened just two

The symposium was held on 31 October and Gülsüm Bilgehan, Adnan Can, the project officer, Helin Şahin from Olof Palme International Center, Turgut Alaca, the President of Mezo-Der (Association for Mesopotamian Culture and Solidarity), and the speakers at the symposium were presented the Olof Palme Peace Plaque by Turgut Alaca, the Mayor of Dikili.

days ago, by the police and private security forces and stated their demands:

“The terror of the police and private security forces in universities must be stopped immediately. The loss of the students whose rights to education were violated by the disciplinary rules must be compensated. YÖK, which is the main responsible institution from all these incidents, must be removed completely, with its name and mentality so that we could clear up the way for a real democratic and scienti-fic education.”

Peace and Democracy Symposium in Dikili

The Terror of YÖK (The Council of Higher Education) is still continuing

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Cycling protest

Right to environment

Members of the Consumer Protection Association (TükoDer) and Environment Association held a bicycle protest to draw attention to the global climate change. Sülahi Özal, the President of TükoDer, said, “We should use public transport and environmentally friendly bicycles to reduce the release of toxic gases to minimum.” In the protest, which was organized by a formation called “the Movement of 350”; the world will be invited to reduce the present carbon dioxide level to 350 PPM before it reaches to the lethal point of 390.

The protest was held in front of the Migros building in Adalar and many members of TükoDer and Environment Association attended it with their bicycles. Sülahi Özalp, the President of TükoDer, said that the earth is polluted by people irresponsibly, the balance of nature is disturbed and the

global climate change causes many disasters such as floods and deadly storms. He added that the global warming rises 2 degrees every year and said, “While the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide amount in the climate is 350, today it has risen to 387 unit and this implies a desertification of our country in 2040.” He pointed out the importance of using renewable energy sources as precaution and said, “We start our struggle for global climate by riding our bikes.”

Paper trash collectors demand insuranceAntalya Modern Romanis’ Association for Social Cooperation, Solidarity and Culture demanded that paper trash collectors be insured by local governments. Ferhat Uçakdağ, the President of the association, advocated the idea that local governments or the companies selling solid waste should insure paper trash collectors and said, “Paper trash collectors contribute in cleaning the city. They give a service which is one of the duties of the municipality.

However, paper trash collectors have been treated as if they are thieves. They just want to earn their lives.”

Fatma Şirin, the Vice President of the association, said that paper trash collectors suffer from serious health problems. She added, “Paper trash collectors should be hired as workers with social security and wear uniforms. Many of these people and their children who are suffering from health problems cannot be treated at hospitals because of poverty.”

On November 5 and 6, a series of activities, which aimed to develop the dialogue between the civil societies of Europe and Turkey, to have a better understanding of disabled people and find solutions to their problems, were carried out in the context of the project “Being a Disabled in Europe and Turkey” prepared in cooperation by Antalya Volunteers’ Association, Antalya Branch of Turkish Association

On 16 October a group of animal lovers in Eskişehir held a sit-in protest in Porsuk Boulevard to protest the students from İzmir Bornova University who had beaten a cat to death. Ayten Tutkun, the spokesperson for the animal

of Disabled People and Hamburg Office of European Turkish Association of Disabled People. Akgün Keskin, a member of the Administrative Board of Antalya Volunteers’ Association, said in her speech at the opening ceremony of the fair founded in the context of the project that their aim in the project is to defend the rights of the disabled citizens of Turkey and to discuss the disabled people’s rights and ways of life in Europe to make it a model for Turkey.

friendly people, said that they feel uncomfortable by the fact that people who torture, murder and even rape animals can walk around in society without any problems. She also stated that people should know that the world does not belong only to humans, torturing animals is not guilt but a crime and the regulations concerning animals do not actually protect them.

Being disabledRights of the people with disabilities

The regulations for protecting animals do not protect animals Animal rights

9

It is no doubt the problems of different religious groups in Turkey and the individuals who belong to these groups are related to more general problems of the country. It is clear that there are some very significant issues such as the superiority of law, more democracy, a particular nationalist view that sees different religious identities as a threat, and the tendency towards keeping religious manifestations in a restricted area and the Turkish society has to reevaluate and reinterpret these issues in accordance with human rights. On the other hand, such changes in the mentality take time and require a determinate political will. Nevertheless, the freedom of religion and conscience should be protected without delay and be part of the mainstream human rights protection.

The scope of the freedom of religion and conscience is needed to be better understood and put into practice in the light of international law. If this can be accomplished, then many problems of religious groups and individuals will be solved. The freedom of religion and conscience has also a vital importance for non-believers and non-practicing individuals who belong to a religion as well as believers. The freedom of religion and conscience of individuals is absolutely protected, in other words individuals are free to believe in anything or change their beliefs. So, indoctrination, teach people certain religious dogmas forcibly, is forbidden. This right also includes the freedom of people to express their religion or belief individually or as a group, directly or through worship, teaching, practice and celebrations. The freedom of expressing one’s religion or belief can only be restricted by law and necessary precautions in a democratic society.

The demands which are articulated by many different belief groups in Turkey constitute the basis of the freedom of religion and conscience. Teaching religious officials, incorporating, opening places for worship, promulgating a belief system, founding charity organizations, teaching a religion and publishing books for this aim, using religious symbols, freedom in choosing spiritual leaders and similar demands are protected in international law under the title of the freedom of religion and conscience. Nevertheless, there are some serious handicaps in enjoying these rights in Turkey. Some of these difficulties are due to regulations and some are because of taking administrative decisions in a restricted way despite regulations and the problems in practice. For instance, to give the education to the religious officials freely, possibly some legal, as well as constitutional, revisions must be made. For Alevis, Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses to be able to open their places of worship, there must be a progress in taking objective administrative decisions rather than a high

level change in law. A legal arrangement concerning the right to conscientious objection must urgently be made to deal with the demands of conscientious objections against military service in accordance with the requirements of human rights. We also have to think about, discuss and reach a social consensus on long term arrangements of different issues, e.g. the duty, supervision and autonomy of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the financial support of this institution by the taxes of all the citizens. Of course, there are problems in different issues, which have already been expressed, such as the equality of citizens, their enforcement to a certain degree in terms of religion and conscience and the neutrality of the state.

It would be better to dwell on the legal principle of neutrality, instead of secularism, to achieve a full protection of the freedom of religion. A neutral state which stands equidistantly to all religions and atheism is a must. Supporting a particular religious view or group financially

or through various facilitative practices contradicts with neutrality. There are many steps that must be taken for the neutralization of the state in this respect.

We have difficulty in seeing the freedom of thought, religion and conscience holistically as is the case in many other issues in Turkey. Some demands are expressed without considering others and some arrangements are expected to be made accordingly. However, what needs to be done is to grant freedom to religious groups and expressions in accordance with the international law.

It is often stated that one of the reasons for the fact that Turkey could not fully realize its international legal duties in the field of the freedom of religion

and conscience is the resistance in social intolerance and bureaucracy. However, these dynamics do not change the importance and the depth of the arrangements to realize the freedom of conscience; they just add new dimensions to them. Therefore, they cannot be acceptable reasons for delaying the protection of the freedom of religion and conscience.

The cooperation of the belief groups which are a part of the civil society and to make themselves be heard by the society and the government by expressing their needs and demands through the language of human rights will be very efficient and informing. Aiming this, realizing joint projects which can be built on the basis of the freedom of religion and conscience gains more importance in the context of the new discussions on constitution.

“The Regulations” part in this issue was prepared by Mine Yıldırım, who is studying her PhD on the freedom of religion and conscience in Åbo Academy Institute for Human Rights in Finland.

Freedom of religion and conscience as human rights

Regulations

Why did you have to emigrate from Diyarbakır to Istanbul?

Before the pre-republic period there were about 20 churches and quite a lot of non-Muslims living in Diyarbakır. Nevertheless, only 4 of them could survive until my childhood. They were the Syriac, Armenian, Chaldean and Protestant churches. The reason for the decrease was of course the migration. Even if it was not due to an ethnic difference, the reason for our migration was the oppressions that we were exposed to because of our religion, that is, because we were Christians. We felt those oppressions in every field of our lives, at school, on the street or at work. The oppression could sometimes turn into violence; there were attacks against churches and priests. For those reasons we emigrated to Istanbul in the early 1970s. Our culture and social lives also migrated with us, for instance the sericulture vanished in Diyarbakır after us.

Is Mezo-Der the first Syriac organization in Turkey? If yes, why is it so late and why is the word “Syriac” not stated in the name of the association?

Yes, the first organization of the Syriacs in Turkey is the Mesopotamian Culture and Solidarity Association. We may say that it is an association founded really late. Syriacs whose history dates quite back lived in Mesopotamia, their motherland, for long years. Then, they emigrated to Istanbul Europe and America. That is to say, they had more urgent needs than being organized. Syriacs living outside Turkey had no problems with organizations; they founded many NGOs. However, that was quite hard in Turkey because of the rights which were not granted to minorities and the democracy which does not work properly. Naturally, the church, rather than NGOs, served for many years as the uniting institution for this people who belong to Christianity. Under those circumstances, even the word “organization” seemed scaring and people avoided being organized. There were some splits in Syriacs, one of the oldest surviving peoples of Mesopotamia, due to some discords in thought. We thought it would be wrong to choose a name for our people who were grouped under the names of Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Nestorian and used “Mesopotamian” for our association as a general name for all. There are many members in our association who belong to different sects.

What are the problems of Syriacs in Turkey? Has there been any decrease in the problems lately?The problems that Syriacs live in Turkey are not very different from those of other minority groups. We, too, are exposed to many discriminative practices as everyone who live in Turkey and are “different”. Our job opportunities are restricted by not being allowed to work in some state institutions such as the police or the military. Education in native language is a great problem for us. Since we do not have a school, children can get their language education only from their parents. Because of the fact that it is very difficult to do this, the Syriac language, one of the oldest languages, is under the risk of being lost. Removal of the compulsory religion classes is one of our most important demands. There are some lawsuits filed against one of our monasteries which

are the historical legacy of the Syriacs. Our monasteries, which have become historical and cultural centers in terms of both religion and tourism, should be paid the necessary respect. Our greatest wish is putting minority rights into

practice which were guaranteed by Lausanne Treaty. Even if it seems that there have been some initiatives lately, they have not yet been reflected into our lives.

What do you think is the situation of the freedom of religion and conscience of other religious groups who do not belong to the Sunni Hanefi majority? Unfortunately, I cannot say that there is such a freedom. The politics of intimidation and oppression which have been practiced for years, of course give a feeling which is far different from freedom to the people who belong to different religions. The financial and moral support given to mosques is not given to churches; our priests never receive any finance from the states. These differences in practice naturally cause people to feel themselves as the “other”.

What does Mezo-Der do and what are its plans for the future?Our association undertakes the mission to work for introducing and developing the Syriac identity and culture in a geography like Turkey in which many different cultures are brought together. Speaking the Syriac language and introducing Syriac music and folklore to new generations make the basis of the cultural activities of Mezo-Der. Our association organizes parties, sports activities, trips and personal development activities to improve the solidarity and social relationships among our people who live separate from each other in a big city like Istanbul. In these activities we are in cooperation with national and international institutions and foundations in accordance with regulations and laws. We have many activities such as Syriac language courses and folk dance activities. We organize projects with different NGOs. For instance, we have ongoing projects about women. We also have cooperative activities with different Syriac associations in Diaspora.

How are the relationships of your association with the associations of other religious groups?Since we activate in a cultural field, we try to communicate with organizations founded and activating for the same reasons and cooperate with them.

Has the fact that both being a member of a religion which does not belong to the majority and working as an activist in this field ever affected your life negatively or positively?Of course it had many effects on my life. You begin to realize that you are different even when you are a child at school in religion classes. They insult

you by calling you “gavur6”. I was so affected by that situation. One is also affected by the negative events stated in the press. Even in schoolbooks there are texts insulting Christianity. It was not easy for me to grow up with these feelings. It makes me really annoyed to see that we are discriminated in enjoying the rights given to all the citizens. Our demand is that we be given the rights back which were taken away from us before. Some new developments in our struggle to obtain these rights make me happy and give hope for the future. Of course, working as an activist in this field has made me more sensitive in these issues. Other than that, in our meetings with other NGOs, I feel responsible for introducing our identity and culture.

Mezopotamya Kültür ve Dayanışma DerneğiBüyükkuleli Sokak No: 45 Samatya/İstanbulPhone: 0212 529 48 55 • Fax: 0212 529 48 57E-mail: info@mezoder.org • www.mezoder.org

Turgut Alaca (the President of Mesopotamian Culture andSolidarity Association)

Civilian Activists

Considering the subject of this issue, we thought Turgut Alaca, a Christian Syriac activist, would be an apt choice as the guest for “Civilian Activists”. Alaca is also a member of the Civil Society Development Center Association and has been fighting for the cultural rights of the Syriacs for many years. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Diyarbakır and had to leave for Istanbul with his family in 1972 due to the oppressions they experienced because of being Christian. He made radio programmes on Syriac culture in Çevre Radio in 1996 and organized the photograph exhibition “Anadolu’nun Solan Renkleri Süryaniler (The Fading Colors of Anatolia: Syriacs)” with Diyarbakır Photography Group. The exhibition was shown in Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Tunceli, and Sweden. He continued his personal activities for the Syriac people. In 2004, with a group of his friends, he founded Mezo-Der (Mesopotamian Culture and Solidarity Association), the first NGO of the Syriacs in Turkey. In 2005, Mezo-Der held a symposium in cooperation with Istanbul Bilgi University Center for Migration Research on Syriacs and their problems. Alaca lives and works in Istanbul today and he was given the Peace Plaque by Olaf Palme International last month. Syriacs are one of the Mesopotamian peoples and their history dates back to 5000 years ago. Today they live in all over the world as a result of the oppressions they were exposed to after they had adopted Christianity as their religion.

6 Or “Kaffir”: an offensive term used by Muslims to non-Muslims.

Civil Society Development Center (STGM)708.sok. 14/9, 06550 YıldızÇankaya, Ankara / TurkeyTel: +90 (312) 442 42 62 (pbx)Fax: +90 (312) 442 57 55e-mail: bilgi@stgm.org.trweb: www.stgm.org.tr

STGM Adana Local Support CenterAdana İş Geliştirme Merkezi Kurtuluş Mah.Ziyapaşa Bulv. Kızılay Kan Merkezi Sk.(64010 Sk.) Dr. Muzaffer Ersalan Apt.K.1 D.1 Seyhan-Adana / TurkeyTel: +90 (322) 453 04 50 Fax: +90 (322) 453 04 02e-mail: adana@stgm.org.tr web: http://adana.stgm.org.tr

STGM Diyarbakır Local Support CenterFabrika Cad. Sümerpark KampüsüKent Gönüllüleri Binası Kat: 1 DiyarbakırTel: +90 (412) 226 60 77, 533 323 64 42Fax: +90 (412) 226 30 65e-mail: diyarbakir@stgm.org.trweb: http://diyarbakir.stgm.org.tr

STGM İstanbul Liaison Office Meşrutiyet Caddesi Kıblelizade Sok.No: 3/1 Şişhane-Beyoğlu Tel : (212) 292 00 60 GSM : (533) 277 85 51 Fax : (212) 292 00 64 e-mail: istanbul@stgm.org.tr

STGM Denizli Local Support CenterSaltak Mah. 1521 Sok.No: 16 D: 1, 20100 Denizli / TurkeyTel: +90 (258) 241 60 11Fax: +90 (258) 241 50 11e-mail: denizli@stgm.org.trweb: http://denizli.stgm.org.tr

STGM Eskişehir Local Support CenterDeliklitaş Mah. Gürman Sok. No: 1626090 Eskişehir / TurkeyTel: +90 (222) 220 40 36Fax: +90 (222) 220 40 76e-mail: eskisehir@stgm.org.trweb: http://eskisehir.stgm.org.tr

STGMD Executive BoardChair: Levent KorkutDeputy Chair: Ayhan BilgenSecretary General: Gürcan BangerAccountant: Feray SalmanMembers: Şeyhmus Diken, Uygar Özesmi, İhsan Özbek

Owned by on Behalf of Civil Society Development Center Association: Levent KorkutResponsible Editor in-Chief: Gamze GökerGraphic Design: Gülru HöyükCartoon: Sarkis Paçacı

ISSN 1306-5297