FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS
French sighed about the Bourbons: ‘They learned nothing and they forgot nothing.’
Nevertheless, Zana continues non-violently to demand recognition for the Kurdish
language, Kurdish identity, and freedom of speech as well as political and cultural
rights.
Conclusions
As many argue, Turkey must solve its Kurdish problem to attain the promise implied
by its recent initiatives in international relations. The vast majority of ethnic Kurds
living in that state favour a democratic Turkey along the guidelines of the EU’s Copenhagen
Criteria, rather than an independent Kurdish state or federation. 50 These
people argue that a wave of globalization has swept over the world making national
boundaries insignificant in economic and even political terms. Thus, instead of nation-states,
regional economic and political organizations like the EU are gaining importance.
What is more, an ethnic federation would not work in Turkey for a variety
of reasons. 1.) Approximately 60 percent of the ethnic Kurds living in Turkey inhabit
the western part of the country. This would make a federation based on the historic
Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Anatolia impractical. 2) It is estimated that there
are now more than 1 million marriages between Turks and Kurds. Many ethnic Kurds
have been assimilated into the larger Turkish population and do not even speak Kurdish.
3) Economic integration has reached an advanced degree as ethnic Kurds have
established substantial economic enterprises in virtually every part of the country.
On the other hand, as this article has amply documented, political, social, and cultural
problems remain. True democratization within the pre-existing boundaries of a unitary
Turkey offers a solution. This requires that schools providing Kurdish language
instruction be opened in Istanbul, while schools offering Turkish language courses
be made available in Hakkari. Everybody should be able to receive their education in
the language of their preference. The limited Kurdish language broadcasting on radio
and television should be expanded to private stations, while an official TRT station
should be reserved for broadcasting in Kurdish. Geographical locations in the southeast
should be referred to by their Turkish and Kurdish names. If this is honestly and
fairly implemented, advocates of the Turkish language have little to fear, since clearly
a continuing knowledge of Turkish will be necessary for anyone of Kurdish ethnic
heritage who wants to succeed in the larger Turkish state or the outside world. Even
now, for example, most of the Kurdish leaders in Turkey communicate in Turkish, not
Kurdish. Indeed, historically Turkish has shown an amazing ability to assimilate and
absorb other languages in Anatolia. Once given the right to use Kurdish, how many
Kurds will really want to educate themselves exclusively in a medium that would only
lead to a limited end? Moreover, such language and cultural rights are nothing more
50 The following discussion is partially taken from Altan Tan, “Solution to Kurdish Problem: A
Kurdistan for Iraq, Democracy for Turkey,” Today’s Zaman, July 23, 2008; and Michael M. Gunter, The
Kurds and the Future of Turkey (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), pp. 127-36.
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