ECRI concerned over discrimination against religious minorities in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish authorities are continuing to abuse the terms of the country's penal code, in particular article 301, in order to punish those who peacefully express their positions and opinions on minorities present in the country. This is one of the findings in the latest report on Turkey by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).

The European Council organization also expresses its concern for the situation of Kurds, Roma and asylum seekers, as well as for the ongoing discrimination against certain religious minorities. In terms of the abuse of the current laws, the report highlights that the peaceful expression of a minority's identity seems to be perceived as a threat to the unity of the Turkish state.

The ECRI says that the penal code is used to incriminate those who publicly defend the interests of minorities and reports that public officials who express themselves in Kurdish also risk censure. The study also reveals that the application of the current anti-terror laws exposes some groups, especially underage Kurds, to a higher risk of human rights violation.

The organisation focuses on the living conditions of both the Kurdish minority and the Roma people, saying that children belonging to the two groups have the lowest rate of school attendance in the country. The ECRI also concentrates on the respect of religious freedom in classrooms, reporting that religious education is still essentially centred on the principles of Sunni Islam.

Also featuring in the report are problems stemming from the fact that all children are forced to swear daily oath ending with the words "happy are those who can call themselves Turkish".

Although the Turkish authorities say that the oath has no ethnic, linguistic or religious connotations and serves to strengthen the idea of citizenship, the ECRI says that many minorities see it as a denial of the added value that their diversity represents.

Finally, the ECRI condemns the lack of a detailed law on the right of asylum, and denounces a series of other shortcomings both in the application of enforced tests and in the procedure followed, which for instance fails to protect asylum seekers against arbitrary detention by the authorities, East Media Group reports.