MESOP RESEARCH : Turkey, the Kurds & the legal contours of the right to self-determination

Derya Bayir – Kurdish Studies – Abstract (Click below for full pdf Text)

Within international law, the concept of self-determination has evolved over the years so as to reveal an external dimension, often associated with secession, and an internal dimension, entailing participatory democracy, minority protection in the context of pluralist co-existence within the territories of a state. An examination of the interpretation of self-determination by the Constitutional Court in Turkey shows, however, that the Court has statically endorsed the former, conservative viewpoint, which reinforces Turkey’s militantly nationalist, democracy.

This article explains the development of the right of self-determination in international law and examines the Turkish Constitutional Court’s case law in that light. In a study of the case law on party closures in Turkey, it evaluates the extent to which the Constitutional Court’s archaic and anti-democratic interpretation has created a legality undermining the ethno-cultural and political demands for the rights of Kurds in Turkey.

Tirkiye, Kurd û derbenda zagonî ya mafê biryardana çarenûs

Di nav dorbenda zagona navnetewî da konsepta mafê biryardana çarenûs piştî gelek salan guheriye. Ev guherîn ji aliyekî ve rehendeka derveyî eşkere dike ku bi cudaxwaziyê ve têkildar e; ji aliyê din ve jî rehendeka hindirîn eşkere dike ku vê yekê rê daye demokrasiya beşdar û parastina kêmaniyan di konteksta pevrejiyaneka piranîgir/pluralîst di nav sînorên dewletê da. Lê belê, hûrnêrîneka li şîrovekirina mafê biryardana çarenûs ji layê Dadgeha Qanûna Bingehîn li Tirkiyeyê nîşan dide ku vê dadgehê herdem nêrîna pêşîn ya kevneparêz pesend kiriye ku vê jî rê daye xurtkirina demokrasiyeka neteweperest a mîlîtan. Ev gotar geşebûna mafê biryardana çarenûs di zagona navnetewî da rave dike û bi vê rêkê hewl dide ku dozeka Dadgeha Qanûna Bingehîn a Tirkan vekole. Bi xebateka li ser dozeka zagonî derbareyê girtina partiyan li Tirkiyeyê, ev gotar dinirxîne bê ta çi astî şîroveyên Dadgeha Zagonî yên kevneparêz û dij-demokratîk têgihiştineka qanûnî ava kiriye ku peşkê li daxwazên etno-çandî yên Kurdên li Tirkiyeyê dixe. 

Keywords

Kurds; Self-determination; Turkish Constitutional Court; autonomy; democracy

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