1 Introduction
In 2009, a new state television channel was opened in Kurdish language and now it is allowed to broadcast for private television and radio stations in minority languages. When we take account of former Turkish language policies through minority languages, such amendments are important changes. New language policies of Turkish State and recent reforms has been discussed in Turkish and European media, because it is an important step for Turkey's candidateship to European Union (EU).
With the recent relations between Turkey and the EU, Turkey has taken several steps through linguistic rights. This essay sets will discuss Turkish debates on linguistic rights which have a restricted conceptual framework. The relationship between the right for mother tongue and democracy has not been sufficiently discussed in Turkey before. This paper aims to address part of this problem by introducing the historical background and main issues of Turkish language policy. Recent language reforms have been under debate and discussed in the Turkish media from different ideological views. Thus in this paper I will examine various aspects of reforms as they are represented in the media and furthermore I will discuss challenges of the implementation of current language policies.
The paper will begin with a summary of historical background which includes the role of Turkish language policy in nation building process and language policy towards minority languages. This will be followed by recent language legislations and media coverage of these legislations. Finally the challenges and success of new language reforms will be discussed.
2 Turkish Language Policies between 1923-1991
This chapter provides the historical overview of the Turkey’s language policies which I find necessary to understand recent language policies in Turkey. This chapter will start with the effects of nation-building process on language policies and will continue with language policies towards minority languages until 1990s, which is a long time period that restrictive language policies were in force. The aim of this chapter is to explore the political and ideological beliefs that guided recent Turkish language policy problems and the need for reform.
A common language is one of the important element of nation. Language influences and influenced by the nation building process. Language plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of nationhood and the sense of belonging. Thus nation-building process followed the “one state, one nation, one language” route in Turkey.
Language reform was one of the base part of Turkish Revolution, whose major aim was to transform the religion based state into a modern secular state. Language was linked with some important elements, which were necessary for the creation of new Turkish society, such as education, science, secularity, media (see Eraydın 2003:11). For understanding the attempt of Turkish modernization, it is important to explain the term “Kemalism” (Atatürkçülük), which refers to the ideas and principles adopted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Kemalist ideology sought to create a modern, democratic and secular nation-state, guided by educational and scientific progress. Kemalism is also influenced by the French civic republication model, which emphasizes the idea of citizens sacrificing for and participating in the creation of common good. (see Ünsal 1979:35)
One of the principles of Kemalism is nationalism which defines the Turkish Nation by saying "Who is a citizen of the republic of Turkey is Turkish" This statement emphasizes the definition of "Turkishness" as the "citizenship of Turkey" rather than as an ethnic or racial origin (see Yağmur 2008:253). But it is common for people to equate Turkishness with Turkish ethnicity. This definition of Turkish nation does not suggest any chance to other languages which are spoken by ethnical groups.
Kemalist criteria for national identity refers to “shared language”. Atatürk praised the Turkish language in the following way;
“The Turkish language is one of the most beautiful, rich and easy languages in the world. Therefore, every Turk loves his language and makes an effort to elevate its status. The Turkish language is also a secret treasure for the Turkish nation because the Turkish nation knows its moral values, customs, memories, interests, in short, everything that makes it a nation was preserved through its language despite the endless catastrophes it has experienced.”
Kongar 2001:29,cited from Eraydin 2003:13
In the early 10th century, when the Turks adopted Islam, the Turkish language was influenced by Arabic and Persian. The secularity principle required removal of religious structures, therefore some changes had done. Those changes were the alphabet shift and the removal of Arabic and Persian words from the language. With the adaptation of the latin script, Turks were able to learn writing and reading in a shorter time and they were also be able to learn European languages more easily. The second reform was purification, which aimed to substitute words from foreign origin with pure Turkish forms. Two organisations (Turkish Society for the Study of History and Turkish Society for the Study of Language) were formed to support studies on Turkish history and language. (see Ünsal 1979:33-34)
Geoffrey Lewis used the term “catastrophic success” for the Kemalist language reform. According to him they were catastrophic because they brought about the emergence of extreme views of purification, such as Sun-Language theory (according to this theory all languages derived from Turkish). On the other hand they were successful, because they helped to minimize the gap between the language of intellectuals and the language of public (see Lewis 2002:6-8).
The challenge of the Turkish nation building process was the existence of the diverse number of languages which were spoken throughout the nation such as Kurdish languages, Caucasian, Arabic, Bulgarian etc. Briefly, during this period the Turkish language was used for creating of a new Turkish identity but minority languages has emerged as an issue. Because in the nation building process, has not given any chance for the development of minority languages.
The Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed in 1923, recognises only non-Muslim groups as minorities and allows them to manage their own schools and use their own languages freely. The rest of the population has been accepted as “Turkish” and their linguistic rights are not under the protection of law. One reason of this situation is the effect of Ottoman administrative system (millet system), which was based on the communal right of the religious groups, rather than on ethnic origin. According to 1965 census, there were 13 languages spoken by Muslim groups and only 3 languages spoken by non-Muslim minorities (see Eraydin 2003:17).
However, soon after the Treaty of Lausanne, serious changes emerged as a result of the ethnically and religiously inspired rebellions. Seyh Said rebellion started in 1925 in the eastern cities. The Seyh Said Rebellion and the following rebellions showed that the nation-building process could not be achieved so easily. Therefore a forced assimilation policy started. As a part of forced assimilation policy, language policy was used to impose Turkish as the dominant language. (see Toksabay 2005:46-47)
To become prevalent the usage of Turkish, several campaigns were organized. For example in 1928 the Law Faculty Students of Istanbul University initiated a campaign with the slogan “Citizen, Speak Turkish!” (see Cemiloglu 2009:21). In 1934, a law requiring surnames to be in Turkish came into force. In 1935, the Law on Compulsatory Settlement was passed giving Turkish-speaking immigrants more freedom to choose their place of settlement. In 1949, the Provincial Administration law gave the Ministry of the Interior the right to change village names that were not in Turkish. (see Jondergen 2009:34)
In 1946, Turkey transitioned into a multiparty system. Thus the minorities in Turkey had the opportunity to use their electoral power. The elections resulted in the victory of Democrat Party, CHP. It was a quite peaceful period and there was also a relative freedom of expression. In 1960, the Democrat Party came to a halt with military coup. One of the reasons of the coup was “Kurdish Question”, which was seen as encouraging separatist activities. After the coup, the military drafted a new Constitution structured the lines of European Convention on Human Rights. In the same year, a new law passed stating that foreign village, city and region names were to be replaced with Turkish names. In 1972, a new legislation on “National Registration and the Ordinance on Family Names” declared. According to this legislation, citizenships of Turkey must have Turkish family names. (see Cemiloglu 2009:18-20)
The new constitution was replaced in 1982. The 1982 Constitution includes a number of articles that limit and forbid the use of minority languages. In Article 28 the use of regional and minority languages in the publications was banned. Apart from this ban it was also forbidden to teach these languages. The most significant law of this period was the Law No. 2932, “it is forbidden to Express, diffuse or publish opinions in any language other than Turkish.” This ban has been in effect until 1991. (see Preamble 2001)
3. 1990's to Present Day
After 1990's some important changes have emerged. While some restrictive language legislations continue, after 1990's, the problems of linguistic groups have been started to discuss. Some problems such as Kurdish problem, which was a taboo, have brought to the agenda. For example former president, Turgut Özal said that he had Kurdish blood (see Eraydin 2003:22). Such events have been started the process, which has last until today. After 1990's some reforms towards language rights came into effect.
In the late 1980's many politicians, intellectuals and officials began to discuss the policy towards ethnic and linguistic groups. Many authors indicated that, former president, Turgut Özal played an important role in recognizing the realty of minorities. He was the first Turkish politician who publicly admitted that the state’s assimilationist language policies had failed. In 1991, Özal submitted a bill to the parliament that would allow to speak but not to write Kurdish languages. However many censured Özal for “departing from the Kemalist tradition.” Despite the protests, Özal`s bill was passed and the next day, the newspaper headlines were “Kurdish, a free language.” That bill removed the language ban which was accepted in 1982 (see Cemiloğlu 2009:56). I believe that, Özal`s bill did not signify a real change in the Turkish State’s language policies, but it was an important beginning.
I believe, one of the most important reason of delayed improvement on linguistic rights is the conflict against a terrorist organization, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). With the death tool reaching 30.000 and material costs, the integrity and indivisibility of the nation became the most important concern of the State (see Schweitzer 2001:26 cited from Cagaptay 2007:25) Reforms, such as recognition of the Kurds and minority language rights, is sometimes perceived as a success of terrorist organizations of PKK. In this meaning, the reforms, which include minority language rights, have been perceived as related with “Kurdish Problem”, and they have caused anxiety in the society. But I believe that, during the struggle against terrorism, it could be used as a weapon against Turkish State. For example the restricting language policies towards minority languages damage the Turkey’s candidacy process in European Union (see Parslow 2007:77-79).
However, European Union (EU) plays an important role on recent Turkish language policies. Over the last decade there has been a growing international understanding, which assumes “linguistic rights are inalienable fundamental human rights. EU accepted “respect for and protection of minorities” as criteria for membership and the EU has begun to observe the developments in linguistic rights in candidate countries. Those developments have caused critics about Turkish State’s policy towards minorities and minority languages. With the recent relations between EU and Turkey, Turkey has taken several steps to change its language legislation. Several EU documents about Turkey refer these language reforms. (see Eraydın, 2003:11-12) The 2000 Regular Report of the Commission on Turkey analyzed the Turkey's situation for the EU:
“Regardless of whether or not Turkey is willing to consider any ethnical groups with a cultural identity and common traditions as national minorities, members of such groups are clearly still largely denied certain basic rights...such as the right to broadcast in their mother tongue, to learn their mother tongue, or to receive instruction in their mother tongue.”
Peterson 2008:177 cited from Cemiloglu 2009:60
After the acceptance of Turkey's candidacy by the EU, the language policies softened in Turkey. In 2002, The Justice and Development party (AKP) came to power in Turkey. The AKP was founded in 2001 and sees itself as Turkish Islamic democratic party focused on EU reforms, comparable to Christian political parties in Europe. (see Polat 2005:5 cited from Wladimir, 2008:4) The reforms which are initiated by AKP can not be seen independent from Turkey’s recognition as a candidate for full membership EU.
The first important reform was the removing of following sentence: “no language prohibited by law shall be used in the expression and dissemination of thought.” In 2002, the government legalized the broadcasts and private courses for the education of minority languages. Consequently, the state radio and television started to broadcast short programs in other languages and some private language courses, mostly in Kurdish, established in 2004. The broadcast in different languages and dialects were allowed but they should not contradict the fundamental principles of the Turkish Republic (see Toksabay 2005:49). Furthermore the personnel of private courses must be Turkish citizens and they should not have been convicted of crimes committed against the State in the past. (see Eraydin 2003:37) The private courses failed through lack of interest. Some Kurds claimed that, they do not want to pay for learning Kurdish and they want Kurdish education in school. Another reform was the law, which allow parents to give their children Kurdish names. (see Wladimir 2008:4)
The reforms that I indicated above are important steps and they are also discussed in Turkish media. Before I started to write my essay, I searched several newspaper accounts about language amendments. When I took a look at the coverage of those reforms in the media, I saw that “Kurdish Problem” is much more conspicuous than linguistic rights. Mostly, in media, language reforms are evaluated in relation with Kurdish Problem. And there are several opinions due to political views. Therefore I tried to choose several newspapers which reflect different opinions towards language policies. For example the newspaper “Today’s Zaman” has close ties with Justice and Development Party (AKP), therefore the news in this newspaper support new language policies. Other newspapers such as Vatan Gazetesi, Hürriyet Gazetesi, Milliyet Gazetesi reflect the ideas of other political parties and they focus on Kemalist view, these newspapers address more suspicious news towards language reforms and they often criticize the “Kurdish Problem” and “Unity of Turkish State” in the context of new language policies. I also wanted to see how the reforms are seen in the areas which have big Kurdish population. Diyarbakir is a south-eastern city and there are many people with Kurdish background in Diyarbakir. Finally, I chose Haber Diyarbakir which is the local newspaper of Diyarbakir. By choosing several newspapers, I tried to reflect several ideas and views. Because I believe that the interpretations towards language policies are changeable due to different political views and ideologies.
The new changes have been seen as beginning of new period. Ertugrul Özkök, one of the publisher wrote that the Turkish Parliament had “a mental revolution... as it has come from the fear of pronouncing the word 'Kurd' to end up with granting freedom for education and broadcast in Kurdish language.” (see Özkök 2002) Mentioning about two similar situations could be a good example to see the difference. Leyla Zana, who was a member of Turkish National Assembly, spoke Kurdish during a National Assembly speech in 1992 and she was arrested and blamed for “seperatist crimes”. Twenty years later, Ahmet Türk, the chairman of pro-Kurdish party (DTP), made a similar move and he did not face such blames. (see Cemiloglu 2009:72)
Article 222 of the Turkish constitution bans the politicians' speech in Kurdish language, use of letters that are not used in the Turkish alphabet and the use of Kurdish names in public. Today's Zaman (which has close ties to AKP) reported that it is possible that the ban on Kurdish letters will be lifted (see Wladimir 2008:6). According to Vatan's news, when Kurds have problems for naming their children with Kurdish letters, it is advised to giving names including letters vv instead of w (see Vatan 2010).
Another controversial issue is the right of education in mother tongue. In 2009, It was announced by the Turkish Higher Education Board (YÖK) that, it is planning to open an elective Kurdish course and Kurdish culture and literature department (see Today's Zaman). After that Prof. Dr. Öcan claimed that, it is planning to open a department as the languages spoken in Turkey instead of Kurdish literature department (see Haber Diyarbakir 2009).
Current interior minister, Besir Atalay claimed that the new legislation, which allows to speak in languages other than Turkish in prisons, has became effective (see Hurriyet, 2010). In January 2009, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) has started to broadcast in Kurdish language, in a new channel TRT6. In the opening speech of TRT6, current prime minister Erdogan indicated that “We do not need to be afraid of our diversity”. He ended his speech saying, “TRT ses bi xer be” (May TRT6 be beneficial) (see Today's Zaman 2009). This was the first time, a Turkish premier spoke Kurdish on Turkish television. Now, a new legislation allows private television and radio stations to broadcast in Kurdish (see Hurriyet 2010). In Diyarbakir, which has big Kurdish population, a presentation in Kurdish language will be directed by a famous Turkish actor Haldun Dormen. The premier of this presentation is going to occur in February 2010 (see Vatan, 2009). Another controversial issue is, if it would be allowed petitioning in Kurdish. Some politicians accept this idea, but some politicians are against to this reform because the official language of Turkish State is Turkish and they advocate, it must not be allowed to petition in Kurdish at public offices (see Milliyet 2009).
It is clear that Turkey has taken several important steps to liberalise its language policy. According to human rights reports, minority languages are still forbidden in some cases, in Turkey. Reforms should take steps to make sure that similar practices of restricting minority languages will not happen again in parliament or in the military. Both the big opposition parties CHP (Republican People's Party) and the National Action Party (MHP) are opposed to more minority language rights and a consistent language policy according to European and international standards. It is also unlikely that the PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) will stop the war after recent reforms. It could also end up in a confrontation with the army. They accepted recent reforms, but will they accept complete language reforms?
4. Conclusion
Language planning could be used for dividing and unifying people. Especially in countries like Turkey, which are culturally diverse, language policy is an important issue. Sometimes language policy makers are motivated by ideological views. In Turkey, some policy makers support the diverse languages but others see them as a threat to national unity. The Turkish language was an important component in the creation of new Turkish identity. After EU announced Turkey's official recognition as candidate for membership, linguistic homogenization became a goal and several reforms have done. Especially recent reforms such as changing language laws and setting up a Kurdish state-TV have been successful but probably they will not be enough for accomplishing conflict and fulfilling the linguistic rights.
The time passed between the regulations and writing the conclusion of this essay has been too short to assess the reforms. The reforms still continue and this process will take time. I believe, the success of the reforms are depend on the perception and support of the Turkish people. Psychological effects of the reforms can not be ignored. It should be prevented to see the reforms as a treat to Turkish unity that may be cause tension and ethnical polarization in the society. Language reforms should be accepted as fundamental human rights. It is still controversial if the reforms could be accepted as recognition of multilingualism in Turkey. The reforms should not stay as new legislations, they should be accepted by both minority groups and Turks. I think it is important to see them as the value of language diversity and humanity instead of seeing them as conflict or success of PKK.
Especially for the EU candidacy process, the sustainability of the linguistic reforms is the biggest deal for the language right issues in Turkey. Language policy could be a good policy to combat against conflicts and ethnic dominance. Coherent state policy through linguistic rights is needed. It could be also an important part of a more comprehensive reform to terminate the ethnical issues in Turkey.
References
Brizic, Katharina; Yagmur, Kutlay (2008): Mapping linguistic diversity in an emigration and immigration context: Case studies on Turkey and Austria. In: Mapping linguistic diversity in multicultural contexts. S. 245-264
Cagaptay, Soner (2007): Can the PKK renounce violance? In: The Middle East Qarterly, Winter 2007, S. 45-52, <http://www.meforum.org/1060/can-the-pkk-renounce-violence>, 05.02.2010
Cemiloglu, Dicle (2009): Language policy and national unity: The dilemma of the Kurdish language in Turkey. In: CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, <http://repository.upenn.edu/curej/97/Y>, 05.01.2010
Eraydin-Virtanen, Özlem (2003): Recent changes in Turkey's language legislation. Nazilli, Turkey. <http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/pdf/wp11-def-ang.pdf>, 12.01.2010.
Haber Diyarbakir (2009): <http://www.haberdiyarbakir.com>, 02.01.2010
Hürriyet Gazetesi (2010): Iste Hükümetin Kürt Acilimi Paketi, 15.01.2010, <http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/13485171.asp>, 15.01.2010
Jongerden, Joost (2009): Crafting Space, Making People: The Spatial Design of Nation in Modern Turkey, In: European Journal of Turkish Studies [Online], 10, 2009, <http://ejts.revues.org/index4014.html>, 05.02.2010
Lewis, Geoffrey (2002): The Turkish language reform. New York
Milliyet Gazetesi (2009): Kürt Sorununa Baykal Önerileri, 26.05.2009, <http://www.tumgazeteler.com/?a=5125351>, 24.01.2010
Özkök, Ertugrul (2002): In: Hürriyet Gazetesi, 04.07.2002, <http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/haber.aspx?.viewid158436> 12.01.2010
Parslow, Joakim (2007): Turkish political parties and the European Union. In: Arena Report, no. 7/07. <http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/reports/2007/707.pdf>, 02.01.2010
Today's Zaman (2009): Kurdish Broadcast on State TV, 05.01.2009 <http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-163016-kurdish-broadcast-on-state-tv-by-mumtazer-aquaturkone.html> 05.01.2010
Today's Zaman (2009): Kurdish to be Offered as Elective Course at Universities, 06.01.2009 <http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-163330-aquakurdish-to-be-offered-as-chartreuse-chartreuseelective-course-at-universities.html>, 05.01.2010
Toksabay, Burcu (2005): Conflict over language rights: The case of Kurds and Circassians in Turkey. <http://www.circassianworld.com/new/language/1251-conflict-over-language-toksabay.html>, 05.01.2010
Ünsal, Artun (1979): Atatürk`s reforms: realization of utopia by a realist. In: The Turkish Year Book, vol. XIX, S. 27-57 <http://www.politics.ankara.edu.tr/eski/dosyalar/MMTY/19/2_by_artun_unsal.pdf>, 05.01.2010
Vatan Gazetesi (2010), Yasak w Harfine vv Cözümü, 24.01.2010, <http://www9.gazetevatan.com/haberdetay.asp?Newsid=283325>, 24.01.2010
Wladimir, Wilgenburg (2008): AKP`s language policy towards Kurds in Tukey. <http://www.students.let.uu.nl/3417786/akplanguagepolicywilgenburg.pdf>, 06.01.2010
Preamble (2001): The constitution of the Republic of Turkey. <http://www.anayasa.gov.tr/images/loaded/pdf_dosyalari/THE_CONSTITUTION_OF_THE_REPUBLIC_OF_TURKEY.pdf>, 05.02.2010
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder