“New Minorities”: A Different Perspective in Minority Debates

Abstract

This article examines the concept of ‘new minorities’, which appeared in the texts of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the 2000s and addressed in the reports of the Council of Europe (CoE). Although the concept lacks a universally accepted definition and different groups are categorized under it across various disciplines, in the context of international law—which is the focus of this study—‘new minorities’ refer to migrants and young people of migrant origin (descendents) Accordingly, the article first explores the connection of this new concept with the notions of ‘migrant’ and ‘minority’. It then discusses the protection of minorities at the international level and to what extent the existing minority rights framework encompasses migration-related ‘new minorities’. Following this, a comparison is made with ‘national minorities’ to highlight the common and divergent elements between the two groups in terms of rights, legitimate claims, and needs. It has also been assessed that the “new minorities,” which can be considered as a new approach to traditional minority rights, constitute an important point of intersection in today’s Europe for the debates on multiculturalism and integration policies in the context of migrants.

Keywords

• cultural minorities
• social cohesion
• human rights
• old minorities
• minority consciousness

“Yeni Azınlıklar”: Azınlık Tartışmalarında Farkı bir Perspektif

Abstract

Bu makale 2000’lerde Avrupa Güvenlik ve İşbirliği Teşkilatı (AGİT) metinlerinde yer alan ve Avrupa Konseyi raporlarında da gündeme getirilen ‘yeni azınlık’ konseptini ele almaktadır. Kavramın her ne kadar genel geçer bir tanımı yoksa da ve farklı disiplinlerde farklı gruplar bu kategoride değerlendiriliyor olsa da bu çalışmanın konusu olan ‘yeni azınlıklar’, daha ziyade sosyolojik bağlamda göçmenleri ve göçmen kökenli gençleri (sonraki kuşakları) ifade etmektedir. Bu nedenle konseptin ilk olarak ‘göçmen’ ve ‘azınlık’ kavramları ile bağlantısı makalede değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca, uluslararası alanda azınlıkların korunması ve mevcut azınlık hakları düzenlemelerinde yer alan ‘azınlık’ çerçevesinin ne ölçüde göç kaynaklı ‘yeni azınlıkları’ kapsadığı tartışılmış, ardından ‘ulusal azınlıklar’ ile karşılaştırmaya gidilerek haklar, meşru talepler ve ihtiyaçlar bakımından bu iki grubun örtüşen ve farklılaşan unsurları ortaya konmuştur. Geleneksel azınlık haklarına yeni bir yaklaşım olarak ele alınabilecek olan ‘yeni azınlıkların’ günümüzde Avrupa’da göçmenler bağlamında tartışılan çokkültürlülük ve entegrasyon politikalarının önemli bir keşişim noktası olduğu da değerlendirilmiştir.

Keywords

• azınlık bilinci
• kültürel azınlıklar
• sosyal uyum
• insan hakları
• eski azınlıklar

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