The EU Accession of Turkey as a Chance for Human Rights and Minorities? E-Book
Linda Gabriel, B.A.
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- Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
- Sprache: Englisch
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna (Institut für Politikwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: The question of whether Turkey is ready to join the European Union has been discussed a lot in recent years and many arguments in favor and against an accession have been put forward. This thesis deals especially with those aspects of the debate concerning human and minority rights. Though Turkey has made some progress in that field too, a lot of issues are yet unresolved; most importantly the denial of the genocide against Christians at the beginning of the last century and the associated discrimination of non-Moslems that still exists today. Unfortunately, these points are rarely acknowledged and economic issues seem to be of higher importance. Only few people even know about the atrocities that took place a century ago and those who do, mostly connect it with the Armenians and - possibly - the Pontiac Greeks; one group of victims seems to be utterly forgotten – the Syriacs. This is of course not to say that the other minorities’ persecution is of lesser significance, but this thesis will focus on the Syriacs, in order to give those a voice, who were almost completely unheard up to now. In the course of the following chapters it will be argued that Turkey has to come to terms with its past - which necessarily has to include recognizing the genocide - if it wants to become a member of the European Union and that it is up to the EU to make that topic a priority. The accession talks, if conducted in the right way, could offer a unique possibility to bring along a long-overdue change in Turkey’s human rights policy. Past events have shown that there is potential for improvement. However, to achieve this, certain facts have to be addressed; ignoring them would be to the detriment of all. To show this, the first chapters will provide the historical background, focusing on the genocide and its aftermath, but also on Turkey’s role as a bridge between cultures. Then, the development of the accession talks and the criteria attached to it will be analyzed. Finally, the positive and negative developments for Christian minorities (especially the Syriacs) and a possible pathway for change will be elaborated on.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
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1 Introduction
The question of whether Turkey is ready to join the European Union has been discussed a lot in recent years and many arguments in favor and against an accession have been put forward.
This thesis deals especially with those aspects of the debate concerning human and minority rights. Though Turkey has made some progress in that field too, a lot of issues are yet unresolved; most importantly the denial of the genocide against Christians at the beginning of the last century and the associated discrimination of non-Moslems that still exists today.
Unfortunately, these points are rarely acknowledged and economic issues seem to be of higher importance. Only few people even know about the atrocities that took place a century ago and those who do, mostly connect it with the Armenians andpossibly - the Pontiac Greeks; one group of victims seems to be utterly forgottenthe Syriacs. This is of course not to say that the other minorities’ persecution is of lesser significance, but this thesis will focus on the Syriacs, in order to give those a voice, who were almost completely unheard up to now.
In the course of the following chapters it will be argued that Turkey has to come to terms with its past - which necessarily has to include recognizing the genocide - if it wants to become a member of the European Union and that it is up to the EU to make that topic a priority. The accession talks, if conducted in the right way, could offer a unique possibility to bring along a long-overdue change in Turkey’s human rights policy. Past events have shown that there is potential for improvement. However, to achieve this, certain facts have to be addressed; ignoring them would be to the detriment of all.
To show this, the first chapters will provide the historical background, focusing on the genocide and its aftermath, but also on Turkey’s role as a bridge between cultures. Then, the development of the accession talks and the criteria attached to it will be analyzed. Finally, the positive and negative developments for Christian minorities (especially the Syriacs) and a possible pathway for change will be elaborated on.
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Before, however, I would like to explain my personal reason for choosing this topic. I was born in Turkey myself - where my grandfather had experienced the genocide of Armenians, Syriacs and Pontic Greeks - but had to leave my grandparents behind and flee to Europe, as the situation didn’t improve.
As a child I had witnessed the trauma of the elderly people, but my parents never really had the courage to explain why we had to leave. For years I was angry because of that, until I went to look for answers myself.
At first I was shocked to find that the stories of my grandfather were substantiated by other witnesses, but all the insight I got took away my anger and lack of trust towards my parents and society as a whole. This experience made me realize that without getting to know one’s past it is impossible to understand one’s behavior and reactions. You can try to run from your past, but it is going to catch up with you at some point. And if you choose to talk about it instead of pushing it away, you can develop a strength, which can give hope for a better future; not only to the individual, but to all the others suffering in one or the other way.
The same is true for the collective. A society that doesn’t critically question its own past, cannot make any social, cultural or human progress; at least not in a positive way. Wise people have claimed for ages that the first step towards a better future is trying to learn from the past. Not only for the victimized group is it important to come to terms with its history and face its trauma, but even more so for the society of perpetrators.
With regard to Turkey, I am convinced that this means, the more people - or politicians in particular - speak out about the past, the better society will develop.
However, while Turkey’s application for EU membership has sparked various debates, there is a lack of discussion about Turkey’s history and the genocide in connection to the EU accession talks. Therefore, I feel confident that my thesis can add another interesting perspective to the discussion about the possible EU accession of Turkey.
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2 Terminology
2.1 Syriacs1
The introduction already included the term Syriacs and it was pointed out that this thesis will focus on the history and genocide of this group of people. At this point the most important facts, which are necessary to fully understand the following chapters, shall be provided.
The Syriacs are descendents of the ancient Near Eastern people of Syria and Mesopotamia; Assyrians, Chaldeans, Babylonians and Arameans. They are known by various names such as Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Suraye/Suroye/Suryoye or according to their denomination as Nestorians, Jacobites, Melkites, or Maronites (in this thesis the term Syriacs will be used).
