5 March 2008

Three members of European Parliament have concurred that the new Turkish Constitution should not include the concept of "Turkishness" and should focus instead on citizenship without making distinctions over ethnicity.

"The new Turkish Constitution should abandon the notion of 'Turkishness' and emphasize citizenship, irrespective of ethnic identity," concluded members of the European Parliament Andrew Duff, Joost Lagendijk and Jan Marinus Wiersma, at a conference on the Turkish Constitution and the Kurdish question in the European Parliament yesterday.
The conference, jointly organized by the Socialist, Liberal and Green groups, came after last year's elections in Turkey, which signaled readiness within the country's leadership to find a new approach to the Kurdish question.

The three deputies, however, criticized the main Turkish political parties for their absence from the conference. "We really believe this issue can only be tackled through an open political dialogue, with a view to ending the spiral of terrorist attacks and military retribution. Unfortunately, representatives of the main Turkish political parties decided not to attend the conference," said Wiersma, vice president of the Socialist group.

As the constitutional reform process is under way in Turkey, the three stressed that a more considerate attitude toward the Kurdish question would greatly help Turkey's accession process.

"Turkey needs to move from military to civil operations and begin a much broader consultation on desired changes in the Constitution," said Liberal deputy Andrew Duff.

The three recommended that Turkey seek solutions based on European values and principles, including respect for the territorial integrity of Turkey, respect for the rights of minorities and acknowledgement of the country's ethnic diversity.

 "The new Constitution should start from the basic principle of individual citizenship, with all citizens being equal irrespective of their ethnic or religious background," said Lagendijk, a deputy for the Greens.

"We also strongly advise Turkey to use the new Constitution to commence a process of decentralization and to allow for the expression of cultural diversity," noted Lagendijk, adding, "The country could look to positive examples of decentralization and the recognition of differences in other European countries."