Turkey: Proposals aimed at democratic reform announced

Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the package of reforms to jourinalists in Ankara yesterday. Picture: Reuters

The reforms are seen as key to the political prospects of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has faced down a flurry of protests by Turks weary of what they consider his heavy-handed rule.

One of Mr Erdogan’s proposals would allow private schools to have some classes in Kurdish. The reforms would also allow the letters q, w and x, which are part of the Kurdish alphabet but not the Turkish one, to be used in official documents.

The seemingly narrow grammatical law had become a nationalist issue on both sides, forcing Kurds, for instance, to spell their traditional spring festival of “Newroz” the Turkish way: “Nevroz.”

The restrictions have been used to prosecute activists and journalists.

Mr Erdogan and his party face a series of elections over the next two years, but it is unclear if the reforms will go far enough to appease his critics, energise his conservative Islamic base and help restore momentum to peace negotiations with a Kurdish minority that has been seeking more autonomy.

Mr Erdogan yesterday called the reforms a historic step in solidifying Turkey’s democracy. “Turkey is progressing in an irrevocable way on the path of democratisation,” he said.

The unveiling of the package has been delayed a number of times as talks with Kurdish leaders stalled. Kurdish rebels said this month they were suspending their pull-out from Turkey into bases in northern Iraq, arguing Mr Erdogan’s government had not kept promises to enact reforms to improve Kurdish rights.

The proposals would also loosen restrictions on political activities in languages other than Turkish but they stopped short of some expectations.

Mr Erdogan had been expected, for instance, to announce the reopening of the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary in Istanbul, which was closed by Turkish authorities more than 40 years ago. The seminary trained generations of Christian Greek Orthodox patriarchs until its closure in 1971.

Kurdish groups had also demanded Mr Erdogan go further on liberalising restrictions on the use of their language, so that Kurdish children would have the right to education in their mother tongue.

Kurds see current restrictions as one of the key tools of cultural repression in Turkey, and the issue has been a source of tension that has fuelled more than 30 years of conflict. Kurds make up 20 per cent of Turkey’s nearly 75 million citizens.

Following the announcement, Gultan Kisanak, co-chairwoman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, expressed disappointment and said it was aimed more at political concerns than expanding democracy.

“This is not a democracy package, it is an AKP election package,” she said, referring to the abbreviation of Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.

The proposals include another step toward lifting of restrictions on the wearing of Islamic-style headscarves in this majority Muslim republic.

The move would allow women civil servants to wear the head coverings. Mr Erdogan said the restrictions would remain for court judges, prosecutors and military and security personnel.

Mr Erdogan acknowledged the package would not meet all expectations, but he called the reforms more comprehensive than any previous steps in the history of the republic.

Mr Erdogan has been the driving force behind other reforms essential to push Turkey’s bid for EU entry.