Post on 29-May-2020
transcript
Being displaced!
Refugee rights activistİbrahim Vurgun Kavlak:
“While supporting another person’sstruggle for survival you realize thatyou are also struggling for your ownlife…”
Campaign to Stop Violenceagainst Children is going on
Supported by the STGM, thecampaign seeks to create a publicpressure for Turkey’s preparation ofa report on violence against children.
There must be stronger NGOparticipation to city councils
The 5th Advisory Board Meeting ofthe STGM worked on stronger andfairer NGO participation to citycouncils.
Only STGM is responsible for the content of this publication which does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Bulletin of Supporting Civil Society Development and Dialogue in Turkey project implemented by STGM and supported by the European Commission. Published every two months.
June 2008 • Issue 13
ISSN 1306-5297
Would you complacently open your door to somebody you don’t know atall? Have you even welcomed some stranger in without any questioning?It seems it is quite difficult to give affirmative answers to such question.The reason is our ever diminishing feelings of trust and security.
On the one side, we are enchanted by globalization and disappearance ofborders while, on the other side, we make those borders even moreimpermeable on the ground of ‘security’ and further consolidate thoseinvisible walls separating south from north and eastfrom west. And the majority of people who stumblearound these walls are those who are forced to leavetheir homes to find shelter in other places or countriessince their lives are under threat.
Each year thousands of people are displaced as a resultof hunger, armed conflict, natural disasters or political regime andinstability. Besides their homes, these people are also deprived of the rightto protection which is one of their most fundamental citizenship and humanrights. When the issue of rights involve the weak rather than the strong, thejustice may work differently. In cases, international conventions are violatedand human rights are breached. Countries’ doors, which are opened hesitantlyand unwillingly when knocked on, are immediately shut with the excuse of‘security’ if the question “who’s there” gets an ‘unsatisfactory’ answer.
So what makes these people “untrustworthy”? That they have sufferedincessant conflicts stemming from fight for power? That they are deprivedof their fundamental rights as a result of their gender identity or personalconviction? That their colours, languages, dresses and dishes are unlike ours?
According to statistics provided by the United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR) there are in total 12,086 refugees in Turkey as of
the end of 2007. As a result of reservation placed by Turkey while signingthe Geneva Convention in 1951, persons other than those from Europeancountries are not entitled to refugee status. In other words, Turkey is just atransit zone in this respect. In this situation, refugees as persons deprivedof their right to citizenship, the most fundamental right of any human being,wait until they are accorded refugee status by the UNHCR and placed inanother country. During this period of waiting which may take months oreven years, they cannot work since they have no permission, their childrenremain deprived of or only barely benefit from their right to education sincethey cannot speak the language of the country they are presently in and theirbasic needs such as health and hospital expenses cannot be covered.
No matter how we may place ourselves out of this picture, we are actuallya part of it. In a world in which the probability of being a refugee one dayawaits all of us, we are a part of both the problem and its solution.
Stop Violence Against Children! Local movement is needed for participatorydemocracy
A new grant programme titled “Strengthening Civil Society in Turkey: Local
Movement for Participatory Democracy” has been announced. The grant
programme was designed to extend support to small-scale projects developed
by local NGOs. Under the grant programme, short-term projects of NGOs active
in such fields as gender, nature and environmental protection, child rights,
rights of the disabled, youth, human rights, cultural rights and local culture
will be awarded grants of financial assistance up to 10,000 Euro at most.
Deadline for applications is 4 July 2008.
Interested parties may reach the application guide and other relevant
documents at the websites of STGM (www.stgm.org.tr), Central Finance
and Contracts Unit (www.cfcu.gov.tr) and the European Commission
Delegation to Turkey (www.avrupa.info.tr).
“Cooperation is essential for strengtheninglocal networks”
During the 5th advisory Board Meeting of the STGM, participants discussed,
on specific examples, critical points related to well functioning local networks.
In the session on “Success
Stories from Civil Society”,
successful examples and
practices in civil society and
participatory democracy were
shared. Gürcan Banger from
the ESYO (Eskişehir Civil Local Platform) informed participants about
the composition, functioning and activities of the ESYO. Then, Hale Evrim
Akman, Coordinator for Strategic Management and Planning in Çanakkale
Municipality shared the experience of participatory budgeting, which was
practiced by the Municipality on the example of the Porto Allegre Initiative.
Stressing the need for partnership and cooperation of all parties concerned
for an effective participation, Akman said “cooperation is a must to
strengthen local networks.” At the end of the first session, Ümit Kutbay
from the managing body of ASTO (Aydın Civil Society Platform), presently
active in Aydın Province with the participation some 75 NGOs, informed
participants about the activities and working principles of his organization.
In the second session, participants divided into two groups to discuss “things
that must be done and not done in processes of establishing healthy and
functional platforms” and “governance for local government and NGOs”.
The STGM meeting drafted a text comprising suggestions for having civil
society participate in city councils in a stronger and fair way. With signatures
of supporting NGOs, the text will be submitted to the General Directorate
of Local Administrations, Ministry of Interior, in June. Those who want to
support the text can reach it on the main page of STGM website and convey
their pledge of support to the address bilgi@stgm.org.tr.
Our Communication Officer Gamze Göker andAssistant Coordinator Ayça Bulut put on theirwedding gowns in May and June, respectively,and we applauded....
The campaign “Stop Violence Against Children!” launched by AnkaraChild Rights Platform is continuing. We forwarded questions to the membersof the platform about the campaign and their activities which are alsosupported by the STGM:
What is the target of your campaign “Stop Violence Against Children”?It targets preventing and eliminatingviolence against children. The Global Studyon Violence Against Children which wasconducted jointly by the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights, UNICEFand the World Heath Organization andpublished in October 2006, reveals theappalling dimensions of violence againstchildren and makes a series of suggestionsto prevent and eliminate it. One of thesuggestions was to make wide spreadpromotion of the issue at national level andto monitor the implementation of suggestionsmade in the report within the frameworkof the Convention on the Rights of the Childand other human rights instruments. In thiscontext, the role of NGOs is quite important.
As an NGO alliance, the Ankara Child Rights Platform decided to launcha campaign to prevent and eliminate violence against children in Turkey.
What have you done so far under the campaign?In order to build public awareness on the need to end violence against children,we have firstly organized meetings with relevant NGOs for preparation andinformation sharing. We launched a website giving information about thecampaign and promoting the work of the platform. Lastly, we arranged anadvocacy meeting at the Grand National Assembly targeting MPs and themedia representatives. Also we, with the support of the STGM, developed ourstrategic plans for the campaign and had our campaign brochure printed.
What are the difficulties of running a campaign?Difficulties involved in developing and implementing a campaign can be overcomewith the harmonious work of the leading team. Apart from this it is essentialto keep the issue addressed fresh in agenda. Indeed, throughout all activitiesthere is need to associate the campaign with the current agenda and launchcreative and effective activities that can draw the attention of target population.
For how long the campaign will last?The campaign is planned to run until 2010. In 2010, Turkey is expectedto submit her country report on the prevention of violence against childrento the UN. The campaign will therefore try to build a public pressure toensure that the issue is taken up and the report is actually prepared.
(bilgi@ankaracocukhaklari.org , www.ankaracocukhaklari.org)
STGM Adana LSC as matchmakerEU Delegation representative was in Adana
The EC Delegation’s Democratization and Civil Society Sector Manager
Petar Kovachev visited STGM’s local support centre (LSC) in Adana on
April 24th.
Kovachev was in Adana for an information meeting to give information
about the 2008 Grant Programme-Turkey under the European Instrument
for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). Kovachev visited STGM’s
local support centre and received information about centre’s activities.
During his visit, Kovachev also found the opportunity to meet with local
NGO representatives.
Eastern Mediterranean Civil Society Platformis launched
With its matchmaking activities the STGM Adana LSC is helping NGOs
to find partners for joint projects. Considering intensive applications to the
centre for finding partners following successive announcements of EU grant
programmes, the local support centre organized a matchmaking meeting
to facilitate NGO partnerships.
There were about 40 activists from Adana, Mersin and Hatay coming
together in the LSC office in İŞGEM and finding opportunity to get
acquainted with each other. During the meeting, participating NGOs gave
information about their activities and projects they developed.
The LSC staff expressed their hope for smoothly working and sustained
partnerships, while informing participants about the grant programme
“Strengthening Civil Society in Turkey: Holistic Approach to Civil Society
and Participatory Local Projects” and other grand schemes that were still
open. Participants were also informed about how to make use of STGM’s
new matchmaking service (http://www.stgm.org.tr/partnership/), methods
of finding national and international partners and existing plan of activities.
İlknur Üstün, the STGM consultant in gender issues was present at the
meeting as observer.
STGM’s press breakfast
Staff from STGM Adana LSC and members of the Board of Eastern
Mediterranean Civil Society Platform (DASP) jointly organized a press
breakfast on March 26th and met with the members of the press in Adana.
12 journalists and correspondents from Doğan News Agency, Akdeniz TV,
Çukurova TV, Channel B and from daily papers Ekpres, 5 Ocak, Bölge
and Zirve attented to the event organized in Fotoğrafya Café.
Headings raised during the breakfast included the objectives of the local
support centre in Adana; STGM’s training activities for NGOs including
capacity building and project cycle management; support and grant schemes.
It was stressed that the LSC is open to all NGOs without an office and
technical equipment.
The civil platform comprising NGOs in Adana and neighbouring provinces
held a general meeting on May 2nd and coined the platform as “Eastern
Mediterranean Civil Society Platform” (DASP). During the meeting
participated by representatives from 40 NGOs, 14 volunteering
representatives formed the
executive board of the
platform for the new term.
Following the initial phases,
the Eastern Mediterranean
Civil Society had held its third
strategic plan workshop to set its
mission and underlying principles.
20 NGO representatives were present at
the workshop facilitated by Levent Korkut,
Chairman of the STGM Administrative
Board. Member NGOs came together once
more on 24-25 May to discuss how they
would capitalize on opportunities pointed
out by SWOT analysis and what measures
could be adopted against threats.
HIV and Life
NGOs in Denizli discussed amendments to be made in the Regulation on
City Councils. During the DESGEP information sharing meeting held at
the local support centre.
The meeting was facilitated by DESGEP Coordinator Diler Aslan, Architect
Hüsamettin Ataman and Dr. Hüseyin Özgür from Pamukkale University the
opening speech was delivered by Diler Aslan. During her opening speech Diler
Aslan stressed that city councils are mechanisms of governance that bring the
central government, local government and civil society together in an
understanding of partnership within the framework of citizenship. Aslan added
that city councils are democratic structures through which development priorities,
problems and vision of a given locality are discussed and identified on the basis
of principles relating to sustainability together with pertinent solutions.
In his speech, architect Hüsamettin Ataman related his opinions and
comments on amendments to be made in the Regulation on City Councils.
Hüseyin Özgür from Pamukkale University informed the participants about
the background, development and present working of Local Agenda 21
and the City Council. Reminding that there is some ambiguity whether City
Councils are for advising or implementing, Özgür added that there is yet
no objective criteria governing the representative capacity of City Councils.
Taking the floor, Tarık Pilevne, Director of DOÇEV Foundation, said NGOs
close to the Municipal Administration are designated for membership in
the City Council while a distance is kept to others which are considered
“opponents”. Berrin Şengün, President of Denizli Women’s Union said
the City Council should enhance its work and activities in gender issues.
Hasan Tanbeli from the Turkish Youth Council conveyed information and
experience concerning the latest state and activities of Local Agenda 21
in Denizli supported by background information on the formation of LA21
and the City Council. Participants stressed the importance of the impartiality
of city councils in terms of representation and functioning.
Discussing the regulation on City Councils
The second round of the “Vocational High Schools Career Days” took
place in two different vocational high schools in Denizli on 7-9 May.
During the event, some 20 organizations including the Koç Foundation,
Association for the Fight Against AIDS, Pamukkale Search, Rescue and
Nature Sports Association, STGM Denizli and DOÇEV and private sector
firms met with students in their stands and found opportunities to share
their respective experience and information with them.
Private sector and vocational high schoolsmeet in career days
On 26 – 27 May Feray Salman, member of the STGM Administration Board
and the coordinator of Human Rights Joint Platform, led a meeting at the
Denizli LSC on “Discrimination from the Perspective of Human Rights.”
With some 20 NGO representatives from the DESGEP, the meeting
brainstormed over “perpetrators of discrimination” and “victims of
discrimination” and participants were informed about discrimination from
the perspective of human rights. Headings covered in the meeting included
the definition of discrimination, its historical grounds, forms and place in
international human rights law. Participants conveyed their experiences as
actors having perpetrated or fallen victim to discriminatory acts.
We challenged discrimination on the basis ofhuman rights
Upon the invitation of Prof. Hüseyin Turgut from the Denizli Branch of
the Association for the Fight Against AIDS (AMD), a two full day meeting
was held in Denizli on 11-12 April with the participation of Nejat Ünlü
and Mehmet Omay from the Positive Life Association (PYD) and staff
from the Denizli Branch of the Association for the Fight Against AIDS.
The first day of the meeting was at STGM, DESGEP Denizli local support
centre. In the meeting both associations made presentations about their
activities and projects. Representatives from Denizli Soroptimist Club,
GİİKAD, Turkish MİSC (Medical Students Club), Denizli Women’s
Platform and the private sector participated in the meeting.
On the second day of the meeting, staff from the AMD and PYD discussed
possible areas of cooperation and pledged to join forces in common
projects to further their cooperation.
NGOs in Diyarbakır engaged in needs analysis
On April 11th, the STGM Diyarbakır LSC conducted an NGO Needs
Analysis Meeting facilitated by Feray Salman from the STGM
Administrative Board. In the meeting participated by 27 NGO activists,
the importance of experience sharing was stressed. Other headings covered
in the meeting included the need for strengthening of local networks,
improved coordination, being more active in accessing information, more
focus on voluntary participation and youth issues and further weight to
support in capacity building.
The “Training in Website Design and Management” organized by STGM
with the support of Microsoft took place from March 31st to April 5th
with the participation of representatives from 8 NGOs active in Diyarbakır.
Participating NGOs showed deep interest in this training designed to enable
them to display their activities in the Internet environment and to support
their ongoing campaigns with websites. The training was considered
successful given that at least some participants acquired skills to design
their own websites after this training of 6 days.
NGOs establish their websites
Youth voices out for Hasankeyf
In our journey starting from the walls surrounding Diyarbakır, we addressed
Zeugma, Allanoi, Cappadocia, and walls of İstanbul and many other assets
of cultural heritage while in Hasankeyf...
During the event “Hasankeyf Cultural Heritage TOG ATAK” participated
by 80 students from 40 universities, university students discussed the
issue of cultural heritage in various workshops they organized. Following
presentations and discussions on the Ilısu Dam, Hasankeyf and cultural
heritage, the next activity was the “Cultural Heritage Fair.” Participating
youth groups shared their experience and information with actors in local
dynamics. Activists stayed in tents during the work which lasted for two
days and three nights.
Young steps marching for democracy...
Under the project “Young Steps Marching for Democracy” supported by the
State Planning Organizations (DPT) and Center for EU Education and Youth
Programmes and implemented jointly by Diyarbakır Local Agenda 21 Youth
Council and Yenişehir Municipality, the activity “Youth and Democracy
Days” took place on 5-6 April 2008. Partners from France, Solidaritê et
Libertê and Infos A Gogo were also present as participants to the event. On April 5th, there was an NGO fair in Diyarbakır where local NGOs active
in youth issues had their stands at the Exhibition Hall of Diyarbakır Greater
Municipality. Following the fair participated by 15 NGOs with their stands,
the panel discussion “Youth and Democracy” attracted many listeners. On
April 6th and again under the project “Young Steps Marching for Democracy”
another panel discussion, “Women and Violence”, was organized in partnership
with the LA21 Women’s Council at the Theatre Hall of Greater Municipality.
Following the panel discussion participants attended the “Culture Night” in
Dengbej House with their French partners.
The General Assembly meeting of the ESYO (Eskişehir Local Civil
Platform) was held at the ESYO Conference Hall on May 3rd. During
the meeting in which 70 NGOs participated, ESYO strategic plan and
action plan were shared. Stating that the strategic plan was about to be
completed after a year-long work, Gürcan Banger, member of the ESYO
Board of Facilitators stressed that the road map for the coming 5 years
was now clearly drawn.
ESYO General Assembly convenes
Improving dialogue between NGOs andbusiness world
On May 28th a meeting was organized in Eskişehir to improve
opportunities of dialogue and cooperation between the business world
and non-governmental organizations. Participated by Business World
and Sustainable Development Association, STGM, ESYO and SİADS
(associations of industrialists and businessmen) active in Eskişehir,
the meeting had the objective of eliminating mutual prejudice between
NGOs and industrial firms.
“Yell louder to stop male violence!”
Upon increasing incidence of violence, harassment and assault against
women in Turkey in general and in Eskişehir, the Eskişehir Democratic
Women’s Platform (EDKP) launched the “Purple Needle” campaign.
The campaign will last for 3 weeks and conclude on 30-31 May with the
ESYO NGO festival. The platform made a press statement regarding its
campaign.
Reminding that Pippa Bacca from Italy touring the world as an ambassador
for peace was raped and murdered while in Turkey, the EDKP speaker
said the “purple needle” campaign first launched in İstanbul back in
1987 was now in Eskişehir.
After stating that the campaign
has reached about 400 women Ekin
continued: “We presented women
our purple needles and invited
them to joint struggle against
harassment. We will have our stand
too in the NGO festival on 30-31
May and continue handing out our
needles. Our target is to reach
1,000 women and draw the
attention of authorities to cases of
harassment. We want to live here
safely without any worries.”
Active in sharing its accumulated information and experience with other
NGOs in different provinces of Turkey, the ESYO came together with NGOs
in Bozüyük. During the meeting held at the Adult Education Centre in
Bozüyük on April 25th, participating local NGOs were encouraged to come
together and start a platform or to benefit from ESYO.
Participants were also informed about the structure,
aim and objectives, and decision making
mechanisms of the ESYO as well as about
services offered by STGM Eskişehir Local
Support Centre.
ESYO in Bozüyük
STGM programme for training of trainersis completed…
Civil society is thriving day by day in Turkey. There are more campaigns,
more organizations conduct their activities through strategic planning and
again there are more and more organizations developing their projects.
Parallel to this vibrancy there is also a significant rise in the needs of
organizations for trainers and consultants.
As a response, STGM launched a programme for training of trainers which
lasted in total for 8 days in two rounds from 3 to 6 April and from 24 to
27 April. There were 16 activists from such fields of activity as youth,
human rights, gender, environment, the disabled and child rights who
received training. These activists are now ready to move ahead with the
STGM to extend voluntary support to civil organizations in their trainings.
We’ve started our institutional coachingprogramme…
The one-to-one and face-to-face support programme which we coin as
“institutional coaching programme” started with our visit to the Human
Rights in Mental Health Initiative (RUSİHAK) in its office in İstanbul
shared by six different organizations as well. Together with volunteers
from the initiative we identified the needs of their respective organizations
and started to develop an overall idea how we could support them in their
activities. In the short-term, STGM will support the organization in its
efforts to establish an effective and sustainable network of volunteers. We
wish RUSİHAK will run its advocacy works more effectively with its new
network of volunteers.
You can find information about our institutional support programme and
application procedures on our website. Our support may cover diverse areas
from strategic planning for an NGO to development of volunteer management
system, from production of printed materials to campaign planning. We
must remind that we are not offering in cash or in-kind assistance in this
context. Our objective is to share information and experience and support
organizations by working together with them.
Our needs-based trainings continue…
We continue with needs-based trainings designed to effectively respond
to differing training needs of civil organizations. This line of training
has a characteristic that distinguishes it from training in institutional
capacity building which we organize on a regular programme base. In
needs-based training we decide together with NGOs concerned on the
content and timing of training and we also deliver this training mostly
at the premises of requesting organizations. This facilitates closer
acquaintance of the parties.
For further information on needs-based training and in situ institutional
support visit our website at http://www.stgm.org/egitim/.
A refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular socialgroup, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protectionof that country. June 20th is each celebrated each year as World Refugee Day since 2000. So for our June issue we decided to interview a refugee rightsactivist working in this field for years. İbrahim Vurgun Kavlak voluntarily worked for four years in the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekersand Migrants (SGDD) before undertaking the coordination of a psycho-social support project and is still engaged in various activities as a volunteer.Language courses in Turkish and English and a refugee choir comprising adolescents in the age group 15-20 are among these activities. Kavlak himselfplays bağlama (a folkloric musical instrument) in and prepares the repertoire of the SGDD Refugee Orchestra which sings in Turkish and Somali language.He points out to the importance of this group: “We organized popular concerts in Kadıköy/İstanbul as a part of the World Refugee Day celebrations. Thiswas first of its kind in Turkey. Since 2000, there are activities such as meetings, conferences, concerts, exhibitions, etc. on the occasion of this Day, butuntil this year other people were doing things for refugees. For the first time this year refugees themselves performed; they became actors in its real sense.”
The phrase that epitomizes best the reservation of people in Turkey to helping refugees is this: “Why should we help an alien negro while we have our poorto feed?” İbrahim Kavlak says that now, as a result of Association’s activities, prejudices and attributions such as “HIV infected”, “drug dealer” or“criminal” targeting black people who have lost their family members in tribal wars back home are being seriously challenged.
Last year, the SGDD organized a “women’s gathering” activity with the Cappadocia Women’s Solidarity Association where they brought together about500 women, 400 of them being refugees. Another activity was the photo exhibition “Citizens of Hope” that collected photographs taken by refugee childrenwho had earlier been given cameras by the Association. The next activity is a football match with a team of celebrities…
İbrahim Vurgun Kavlak(Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants)
“Why should we help an alien negro while we have our poor to feed?”
STGMD Executive BoardChair: Levent KorkutDeputy Chair: Serpil SancarSecretary General: Ayhan BilgenAccountant: Feray SalmanMembers: Şeyhmus Diken, Uygar Özesmi, Öyküm Bağcı
Owned by on Behalf ofCivil Society Development Center Association: Levent KorkutResponsible Editor in-Chief: Gamze GökerIllustrations: Ferit Avcı
ISSN 1306-5297
Civil Society Development Center (STGM)89.sok. 14/9, 06550 YıldızÇankaya, Ankara / TurkeyTel: +90 (312) 442 42 62 (pbx)Fax: +90 (312) 442 57 55e-mail: bilgi@stgm.org.trweb: www.stgm.org.tr
STGM Adana Local Support CenterAdana İş Geliştirme Merkezi Kocavezir MahallesiKocavezir İş Merkezi Kat: 2 No: 17 Adana / TurkeyTel: +90 (322) 365 04 04Fax: +90 (322) 365 04 11e-mail: adana@stgm.org.trweb: http://adana.stgm.org.tr
STGM Eskişehir Local Support CenterDeliklitaş Mah. Gürman Sok. No: 1626090 Eskişehir / TurkeyTel: +90 (222) 220 40 36Fax: +90 (222) 220 40 76e-mail: eskisehir@stgm.org.trweb: http://eskisehir.stgm.org.tr
STGM Diyarbakır Local Support CenterKurtismailpaşa 8. Sok. Memuzin Apt.No: 3 Ofis, Diyarbakır / TurkeyTel: +90 (412) 223 05 86Fax: +90 (412) 223 05 88e-mail: diyarbakir@stgm.org.trweb: http://diyarbakir.stgm.org.tr
STGM Denizli Local Support CenterSaltak Mah. 1521 Sok.No: 16 D: 1, 20100 Denizli / TurkeyTel: +90 (258) 241 60 11Fax: +90 (258) 241 50 11e-mail: denizli@stgm.org.trweb: http://denizli.stgm.org.tr
Human beings develop interest in and concentrate on some specific areas for variousreasons. Why did you choose refugee rights as your area of activism?
I can say that it all started when I was an intern in the United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR) during my post-graduate study in Hacettepe University. Asylumseeking in such an area that once you are involved deeper in, you can’t just abandon it. Youcome across people who have suffered incredibly heavy distress and pain. In fact all problemsand issues in the field of human rights come before you in different forms in the case ofrefugees. Each day you discover a new heading of debate and learn about it.
Different from other areas, we can’t see refugees themselves in Turkey as activists indefending their rights, why?
In general, as a result of their past fears and sufferings, refugees want to have a new life andstay away from activism in their destination points in order to avoid any new trouble. Thiscan be explained by various factors. Turkey has yet no comprehensive legislation in this area,but still working on it intensively in her process of accession to the EU. In 1951 Turkey
acceded to the Geneva Convention onthe Legal Status of Refugees with ageographical reservation. In otherwords, persons coming in from non-European countries cannot stay inTurkey as refugees; they are providedtemporary protection only. Consideringthat their stay in Turkey is onlytemporary, refugees avoid gettingactively involved in related efforts. Butstill the leading obstacle to activismis concerns about security. These arepeople who were at odds with
authorities in their home countries and now staying in a country to be placed in a third onewhile they consider their lives under threat. So, despite having been activists back home, theyare hesitant to be a part of social life in the country they are staying at present.
As a country where are we standing now in terms of the rights of refugees and migrants?
While having no legislative arrangement in this area, Turkey maintains it geographicalreservation. Related affairs are governed through instructions and circulars which preventany systematic structure and functioning. For example, if a person cannot afford the fee fora simple health check up, his or her use of the available system depends on the subjective
initiative of some persons or institutions. What is needed is arrangements that saves servicedelivery from the realm of random and subjective interventions. It is true that access toeducation and health services covers refugees too within the framework of arrangementsrelated to foreigners, but absence of a specific legislation on refugees and migrants leadspeople into trouble and search for temporary solutions. The Government is working underits National Action Plan on a legislation that is in accordance with the EU, but still, inpractice, we come across serious problems in the exercise of some rights.
How is the day of an activist in refugee rights?
As a result of our activities related to asylum seekers and refugees we came into contactwith these people in Turkey. At present we are busy responding to telephone calls and lettersfrom too many refugees and we have face-to-face contact with many of them. Given thatturmoil in the countries of origin which gives rise to the problem of refugees is continuing,no matter how you improve conditions in the country they are staying now you will stillremain preoccupied with a range of psychological problems. You start to collect the painsof these people, and when you feel that you can’t bring a solution, then you start questioningyour work and your raison d’être. At that point you realize that you are actually strugglingfor your own life by supporting the struggle of another person.
Are there enough people working in this area in Turkey?
The NGO assistance to both students and academics in their entry to the field and provisionof opportunities in research, study, internship, etc. have recently pushed the issue to the foreand increased the number of people interested in this field. However, given that Turkeyrepresents a territory where population movements and mobility is high, it is not possibleto say that the number of institutions, organizations and persons working in it is sufficient.
Were there times you said “I wish I wouldn’t be in this issue”?
No, I didn’t say that, but there have been times I asked myself “how would it be if you wereworking on some other issue?” We must have the motivation to hold on even at thosemoments that force you to think “I wish I weren’t”. If you are not trying to find solutions,then you will see no problem and experience no trouble. The point is that you must be ableto show what is possible beyond what is. This way of thinking keeps us active all the time.
Sığınmacılar ve Göçmenlerle Dayanışma DerneğiAddress: Cinnah Cad. 27/7 Çankaya AnkaraTel: 0312 427 55 83 Fax: 0312 487 55 83 E-mail: sgdd@sgdd.org.trWeb: www.sgdd.org.tr