Turkey: 1) Information on the treatment of Kurds in Turkey, especially the Alevi Sect of Islam. 2) Information on the Social Democratic Party. 3) Are Turkish who marry Kurds discriminated against?

1) The Kurdish people are of persian nomadic origin and live in five different states (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the USSR), thus forming a "nation without state" of some 17 million people [ Kaplan R.D. 1987, "Kurdistan: Sons of Devils", The Atlantic, November 1987: 45-47.]. Two thirds of the Kurds in Turkey are two third Sunni Muslims of the Shâfi'i school (while the Turkish people ARE also Sunni, but of the Hanafi school) and one third are Shias or Alevis [ Kurian G.T. 1987, Encyclopedia of the Third World, vol.III, New York and Oxford: Facts on File: 2007.]. The Kurdish language is divided into several dialects of Indo-european origin, related to Farsi and Pushto with an Arabic influence [ The New Encyclopaedia Britanica, 1989, Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britanica: 40.].

Despite the fact that 2 to 2.5 million of the Turkish population (52 million in total) are Kurdish, the use of their language is prohibited at school and in published material [Kaplan, 1987: 46; Kurian, 1987: 2007-2008; The New Encyclopaedia Britanica, 1989: 40.]. The government has also prohibited the traditional Kurdish costume and the establishment of any kind of Kurdish organisation or grouping [The New Encyclopaedia Britanica, 1989: 40.]. The Kurds are not formally recognized by the Turkish government as an ethnic group of its own and are named by euphemism: Eastern Turks [ Kaplan, 1987: 46.].

The Kurds of Turkey continue to be victims of imprisonment and of government harassment, mainly on the grounds of their autonomist and linguistic aspirations, and on the grounds of their religious adherence to the Alevi sect [Helsinki Watch, 1988, Destroying Ethnic Identity: The Kurds of Turkey, New York and Washington: Helsinki Watch Committee: 11-18.]. For example, Kurdish populations are frequently subject to forced relocation in times of crisis [ Türkiye Postasi, 27 February 1987, "50 bin kii göce zorlaniyor" (Cinquante mille personnes forcées de se déplacer - Fifty Thousand people forcibly displaced).]. After the military coup of September 12th 1980, torture and executions have been recurrent in the Eastern region of Turkey in order to definitively "solve the Kurdish problem" [Helsinki Watch, 1988, idem: 23-25.]. The return to civilian rule under Turgut Ozal in 1984 has not eased the situation of Kurdish populations, given the fact that cooperation between Turkish and Iraqi Kurds have accounted for a renewal in autonomist activities in Eastern Turkey [ Turkiye Postasi, 27 February 1987, "Ils ne tolèrent même pas les noms" (They do not even tolerate names); Allis S. 1987, "In Turkey: A Question of Loyalties", The Times, 27 April 1987.].

Eighteen percent of the Turkish population is Shia Muslim, for the most part Alevi (the term means: "followers of Ali") [ Delury G.E. 1987, World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties, vol. II, London: Facts on file: 1137.]. Alevis, whose beliefs are based on gnostic rituals and whose practices are secret (the Alevis never go to the mosque), are considered as heretics by other Muslims [ Delury 1987: 1137.]. Alevis were allied to Kemalian laicism which protected them from Sunni fanatism in the past [ Graf D. 1989, Türkei, Zürich: Schweizerische Zentralstelle für Flüchtlingshilfe: 37 (see translation attached).]. At the end of the 1970s, however, bloody clashes opposed Sunnis and Alevis, particularly in the provinces of Malatya, Kahraman Marash, Sivas and çorum; the most important death toll was among Alevi Kurds [ Graf 1989: 37.]. In December 1978, for example, 111 people were killed and more than 900 buildings destroyed in Kharaman Marash during clashes [Degenhardt, F. 1988, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, London: Longman: 380.]. In August 1980, 22 Sunnis convicted of direct responsibility in the massacre were given death sentences, but 9 of them were freed from jail in 1983 [Degenhardt, 1988: 380.]. In the city of çorum in Northern Anatolia, further rioting between the sects, which resulted in the death of 22 Alevis and the burning of their publications, led to the imposition of a curfew in May 1980 [ Degenhardt 1988: 380.].

Since the 1980 coup, Sunni fundamentalism has strengthened and pressures on the Alevi sect have been renewed [Graf 1989: 37.]. In 1987, Alevi children were forced to attend religious classes in which Sunni principles were taught [Helsinki Watch, 1987, State of Flux: Human Rights in Turkey, New York and Washington: Helsinki Watch: 31.]. According to former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, recent acts of fanaticism have remained unpunished, indicating the growing tolerance of the State towards fundamentalist groups [ Helsinki Watch, 1987: 31.].

2) The Social Democracy Party (Sodep) merged with the Populist Party in November 1985 to form the Social Democrat Populist Party (Sosyal Demokrat Halkci Partisi or SDPP) [Delury, 1987, idem: 1134.]. Sodep, which was left-to-centre, won 23.4% of the votes during the 1984 elections [ Idem.]. The current leader of the SDPP, elected in June 1988 for a period of two years, is Mr. Erdal Inonu [ "Turkey: Elections of Leaders of Opposition Parties", Keesing's Record of World Events, 35(3): 36564.]. In the March 1989 local elections, the SDPP won slightly more than 28% of the vote, thus strengthening its position as the main opposition party in Turkey [ "Turkey: Defeat for Ruling Motherland Party in Local Elections - Cabinet Changes", Keesing's Record of World Events, News Digest for March 1989: 36528.].

3) Turks who defend or simply refer to the Kurds as having an ethnic identity of their own are generally victims of harassment and imprisonment [ Helsinki Watch, 1988, idem: 8-9.]. Inter-marriages, however, do occur in Turkey but have only contributed in rendering Kurdish ethnicity more complex [Idem.].