Title: Evaluation of the MRG project:
Combating Discrimination and Promoting Minority Rights in Turkey
Author: Orhan Kemal Cengiz
Place of publication:
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
Release date: 2009
Combating Discrimination and Promoting Minority Rights in Turkey was a three year programme. The overall goal of the programme as formulated in the EC proposal was the implementation of minority rights protection in Turkey to European standards (the Copenhagen criteria), benefiting minorities in Turkey, which consist of several million people – including Kurds, Syriacs, Armenians, Greeks, Laz, and Alevis.
The objective can be summarized as follows: Implementation of minority rights protection in Turkey to European standards as defined in the Copenhagen Criteria. To achieve this, the programme objectives were:
Agreement between minority partners, EU officials and some officials in Turkey on specific steps needed to meet the Copenhagen Criteria;
Creation of more favorable conditions for the return of refugees and IDPs;
Development of anti discrimination laws and litigation for the peaceful resolution of conflicts over discrimination through;
Creation of a model of public and private education that teaches respect of all communities;
Regular and full discussion of the issue of minority rights in the Turkish media.
The main activities were the production of a report on how to achieve EU standards for minority rights protection in Turkey; workshops leading to specific guidelines on how to create an education system respecting minority rights; drafting of comprehensive anti discrimination laws to meet EU standards, and litigation to begin implementation of anti discrimination laws; workshops and research on property rights and return, leading to specific guidelines for policy makers and a guide for internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees and litigation to support property claims. [1]