Abstract
A rank outsider stumbling into the world of German human rights journalism1 might be excused for thinking the human rights issue is some sub-department of anthropology. The ethnicity-oriented approach, which for some critical contemporaries amounts to a ‘biologisation’ of human rights,2 underpins all discussion within Germany of Turkey-related issues, but most of all the so-called Kurdish problem. Remarkable in this connection is the ‘homework’ Ankara has had urged upon it–that is, if it wishes to have any chance of gaining EU membership. Besides the Cyprus issue, the dispute with Greece over the Aegean Sea, and the economic situation, Turkey is reminded of two other items of ‘homework’ still outstanding: human rights and the ‘Kurdish problem’. Since ‘human rights abuses’ are also treated as part of the ‘Kurdish problem,’ mentioning them separately is intended to intimate that the ‘human rights problem’ relates to the ostensibly ethnic Turks, whereas the ‘Kurdish problem,’ so it seems, is to be construed as a minority problem that Ankara can best solve by granting ethnic group rights. My aim in this present essay is to pass review of this ethnically slanted treatment of human and minority rights in Turkey that so characterises German journalism. Citing passages from academic journals, I shall not only isolate how opinion-makers in the media argue, but also touch on the strategic solutions advanced by semi-official instances.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 1, 1998 |
| Published in Issue | Year 1998 Volume: 3 Issue: 4 |