Turkey’s stance towards minority groups was the topic of a high-level panel discussion at the İsmail Beşikçi Vakfı in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district last week. Some of the country’s leading academics and representatives of minority groups participated in the talk, which was held to mark the anniversary of the 1955 attacks against Greek, Armenian and Jewish citizens in Turkey. Speakers criticised Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s for allegedly exploiting the “New Turkey” discourse in order to target the country’s non-Muslim minority. In August, Erdogan offended the Armenians. On nationwide television, Erdoğan said: “Let all Turks in Turkey say they are Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with that? You wouldn’t believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. ...They have said even uglier things - they have called me - excuse me for saying this - Armenian, but I am Turkish.” This statement from the Turkish president, in which he apologised before using the word “Armenian” as though asking to be excused before uttering a swear word, drew the ire of not only Armenians but also other minority groups in Turkey. As regards the September 1955 attacks, one well-known Turkish journalist Rıdvan Akar, said the violence was a direct result of numerous Turkish government policies, including the Varlık Vergisi (Wealth Tax) that was used to transfer wealth from non-Muslims to Muslims. Other similar measures included the Vatandaş Türkçe Konuş (Citizen, Speak Turkish) campaigns that led to the 1964 deportation of thousands of ethnic Greeks without Turkish citizenship. According to human rights activists and members of Turkey’s Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Association (Dur De), more than 400 non-Muslim women were raped, 15 people died, and more than 300 people were badly wounded during the attacks in September 1955. Also, thousands of homes, dozens of churches, one synagogue, one monastery and 26 schools were attacked.
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