International Migration Symposium
08 – 11 December 2005
Istanbul, Turkey

Speech by
Marino Busdachin
UNPO General Secretary

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Panelists, Dear Friends,

I am glad to be here, and grateful to have the opportunity to address you during today’s important meeting on behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). I convey to you the salutation of the 63 Members of the UNPO who represent over 200 million peoples around the world.

First of all, on behalf of UNPO, I would like to take this opportunity to extend to you the warm salutations of the Turkic peoples and nations who are part of UNPO such as, Bashkortostan, Gagauzia and Chuvash, Crimean Tatars and Tatarstan, Kumyk and Iraqi Turkmen, as well as the Uyghurs of Eastern Turkestan.

The UNPO General Assemblies, international conferences and seminars provide a venue for UNPO’s Turkic members to draw attention to their situations, expectations and protection of Human Rights, while they actively seek solutions and support.

It is very apt that this important Symposium is held precisely here in Istanbul, a synthesis and a precise picture for a symbol of connecting cultures, languages, and peoples of a large stream from Europe to Asia. For centuries Istanbul has been an example for integration and respect of different religions, peoples and cultures.

Today, Turkey is on the way to become part of the European Union, reinstating for the Turkic peoples what has been the role of Istanbul in the past centuries: to be a bridge between different worlds.

The European Union is currently counting around 4 million Turkish and/or Turkic peoples: migrants, and refugees, from so many countries that persecute Turkic people without any respect for their elementary human rights. Consequently the matter of migration presents notably the most urgent questions and problems.

Migration - Turkey

Turkish migration to the EU and migration to Turkey from neighboring countries will represent one of the major issues for Europe and Turkey in the next years. A full effective application of the freedom of movement of people will seemingly take more time and requires further stages of implementation.

One of the major problems is integration. In particular, for the first generation of immigrants to the EU, the feeling of economic and social exclusion, generated an establishment of ethnic and religious enclaves characterized by family- based structures, the preservation of their own native language and a strong adherence to religious believes and cultural traditions; maintaining an extensive cultural, political and commercial ties with the country of origin.

More than a third of them acquired citizenship and a consistent part is actively involved in politics at a local and national level. On the other side second and third generation citizens are more integrated. An increase of mixed marriages and a decrease in religious practice is noticeable.

One of the positive facts that emerges, is a growing awareness, among governments and civil society around Europe, that integration is a two way street. Similar to immigrants who have to make an effort to integrate, governments must adopt policies to help their integration and preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage. Of far greater importance, society itself has to change reconsidering perceptions close to xenophobia, if not outright racism. Requiring immigrants to believe in common universal values does not need to deprive them of their cultural and religious freedoms.

With a growing economy in the EU, future Turkish EU membership could lead to greater mobility among migrants between Turkey and the EU. Turkey’s EU membership would undoubtedly represent a powerful role towards peacemaking and stabilization in this strategically critical region. The same opportunities will be present for the Black sea area, south Caucasus and Central Asia.

Then, if Turkish migration to the EU is a recent episode we have to take into consideration that Turkey has been a center for asylum for many peoples, including Turkic peoples, such as the Uyghurs and Turkmen, for centuries.

Anatolia was a bridge between East and West. It became a seat for many ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. Christianity, Islam and other beliefs survived side by side. Nobody was discriminated because of his or her ethnic, religious or linguistic background. During the Ottoman rule many ethnic, religious and linguistic groups from the Balkans, Middle East and Transcaucasia migrated to Anatolia. Among them were also Albanians, Macedonians, Bosnians, Crimean Tatars, Circassians, Georgians and Chechens.

One of the most important events during the Ottoman rule was the migration of the Jews to Anatolia and to the areas within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. When the Jews in Spain and Portugal were faced with the danger of inquisition, Ottoman Sultan Beyazit the Second sent Ottoman ships to Spain to evacuate almost 300,000 Jews. This is the best proof of religious tolerance of the Muslim Ottoman Empire.

Migration to Modern Turkey continued after the founding of the Republic of Turkey by the great leader of the 20th century, namely Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

During the Second World War, fleeing the Nazi and Fascist regimes in Europe, tens of thousands of people sought refuge in Turkey. Some of them made some useful contribution especially in the fields of education, arts, music etc.

East Turkestan

Some important flows of migration to Turkey took place in the post-1950 period. After the occupation “Dogu Turkistan” or East Turkestan by the Chinese Communist in 1949, thousands of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kirgiz fled to neighboring countries such as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Local governments were pressuring them to find a third country, due to pressure from the Chinese government to leave as soon as possible. Two great leaders of the people of East Turkestan, the late Mehmet Emin Bughra and Isa Yusuf Alptekin traveled to Turkey to request the Turkish government to take care of all these refugees living temporarily in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. After intensive lobbying, the Turkish government decided to give political asylum to almost three thousand refugees from Eastern Turkestan.

East Turkestan was one of the founders of UNPO on 11 February 1991, in The Hague, the Netherlands. They are still a very active member of our organization. As the current General Secretary of the UNPO, with this opportunity I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the Turkish people for extending their hands towards the people of East Turkestan at that time. There is a nice saying: “Friends in need are friends indeed”.

We should also not forget the fact that Turkey opened its borders to almost one million Kurds from Iraq those who had to flee Saddam Hussein’s “ethnic cleansing” policy. At that time the generous Turkish people, despite their own economic difficulties, shared whatever they had with the Kurds in destitute.

In the 1980s, thousands of Bulgarian Turks sought refuge in Turkey. They were also faced with the danger of “ethnic cleansing” by the communist regime in Bulgaria.

In brief, it can be said that for centuries modern Turkey represented a safe haven for millions of refugees fleeing their homelands as a result of gross human rights abuse, ethnic cleansings or various sorts of atrocities.

Iraqi Turkmen

Deportation and enforced movement of the Turkmen of Iraq to migrate and resettlement of Arabs in the regions inhabited by Turkmen were major features of the assimilation policies of the Ba’ath regime. Turkmen were not allowed to be appointed in their regions, and social engineering projects were designed to demolish the Turkmen historical neighborhoods. With intensification of assimilation polices, the big Turkmen neighborhood Old Tisin and many Turkmen villages and sub-districts were demolished and the inhabitants were deported to the camps in southern Iraq. At the same time, the two thousands houses of the historical Kerkuk citadel were leveled to the ground. Tens of thousands of squares kilometers of Turkmen land was confiscated and donated to the new Arab settlers.

When the Turkmen started to be used as front line fighters in the Iraq – Iran war, they started to flee the country. The estimated number of Turkmen who migrated between 1980 and 2003 is about 100.000, settling mainly in Turkey, Iran, European countries, USA and Canada.

Unfortunately, the situation of Turkmen has not changed much after the US occupation. The confiscated Turkmen lands in Old Tisin and tens of demolished Turkmen villages remain unreturned. Another problematic issue is that of the Ownership Trial Commission, which was instituted by the US at the beginning of the occupation, enforcing a decision to not return thousands of Hectares of Turkmen lands, forcedly confiscated by the Saddam regime, to the rightful owners. Allocation of official positions is another issue, reflected in the composition of the Commission, in which non-Turkmen occupy two of the highest positions.

UNPO

To provide you with an insight into UNPO, I would like to emphasize the importance of activities carried out by the organization in support of all its Members. UNPO was founded on the steps of the International Court of Justice, by representatives of occupied nations, indigenous peoples, minorities, and other vulnerable and disenfranchised peoples. The founders shared common ground in their struggle to preserve their cultural identities, protect the basic human rights of their peoples, and expand various rights frameworks to safeguard the environment. UNPO was born out of the need to provide a voice to the oppressed, captive, or ignored peoples of the world, and to empower those peoples to address the international community in fora such as the United Nations.

Today, UNPO comprises 63 Members representing over 200 million people worldwide whose primary goal remains much the same. They have joined together to secure the five principles enshrined in the UNPO Charter: Non-violence, Human Rights, Self-determination and Democracy, Environmental Protection, and Tolerance. During its fourteen years of existence, UNPO has proven itself to be a strong force for these principles around the world.

Let me briefly elaborate on two of the previously mentioned elementary, fundamental human rights, broadly denied: self determination and democracy.

Self-determination has its roots in and continues to be inseparably linked to the core concept of democracy, understood to mean the right to choose one’s rulers and to participate in decision-making. In this sense, the right to self-determination is a right of choice and a right of participation. But the exercise of self-determination may also involve a choice by a people to be ruled by the leaders of its own community, whether within the framework of an existing state or outside that framework. Many of the armed conflicts that have raged in the world over the last century, center around peoples’ drive to self-determination, whether explicitly stated as such or not. For this reason, it is necessary to explore ways to transform the perception of self-determination from being a contributing factor or even cause of conflict, into the notion of self-determination as a foundation and instrument for the effective prevention and resolution of conflict.

In the past decades, our world has witnessed a growth and welcoming commitment to democracy. We have seen a steady trend moving towards the establishment of democratic forms of government. Today, from Latin America to Africa, and from Europe to Asia, in comparison to ever before, democracy is a worldwide accepted and practiced principle. I sincerely believe that democracy these days must be considered a fundamental human right as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in his report on the “Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration”. In his report he states, and I quote, “Democracy and Human Rights, though distinct concepts, are closely interlinked.”

For peace, security and stability to exist, any association between peoples and communities or between them and the state must be based on genuine and continuing consent, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Peace cannot exist in states that lack legitimacy or whose governments threaten the lives or well being of a section of the population. The international community, its members and institutions, have an obligation to act when international law, including human rights and the right to self-determination, is violated.

The time to act is always now. Not when a conflict is “ripe” for resolution, as some would have it.

Mr. Chairman, Friends,

Another important issue that will represent a great step forward in relation to respect for human rights and the development of democracy in Europe, Russian Federation and Central Asia; I refer to the future admission of Turkey to the European Union. It is a hope and a wish.

UNPO, and its network, started to support and to lobby in favour of this solution years ago.

Turkey in the EU would provide undeniable proof that Europe is not a closed “Christian Club”. It would confirm the Union’s nature as an inclusive and tolerant society, drawing strength from its diversity and bound together by common values of liberty, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. In the great cultural debate of the twenty-first century, all too often fuelled by ignorance and prejudice and misused by criminal phenomena such as international terrorism, a multiethnic, multicultural and multi faith Europe could send a powerful message to the rest of the world that the “Clash of Civilizations” is not the ineluctable destiny of mankind.

Turkish membership would further give evidence of the compatibility of Islam and democracy. It is true that Turkey’s experience is unique, based on diverse cultural roots, two centuries of western orientation and Ataturk’s revolutionary transformation to secularly democracy; it cannot simply be transferred to other Islamic countries. The successful inclusion of Turkey in the EU would show the Islamic world, Eurasia and Central Asia that it is indeed possible to find answers to the dilemma of combining religious beliefs and traditions with the universally accepted principles of modern societies.

Initiatives and programs related to improve cultural and linguistic rights, firstly in Europe and Mediterranean area and more extensively in the Middle East and Central Asia should become a major commitment for the Turkic Diaspora and immigration. UNPO would like to start such a program next year; for which I hope to find collaboration and support for such complicated proposal and action. I firstly would think of a conference, during which we assemble all Turkic peoples and Nations in order to find common interests and visions to initiate a basic compilation of the most pertinent questions that need to be tackled and underlined.

Strengthening democracy, human rights, the right to self-determination and the rule of law are critical to achieve social progress and modernization, as well as to meet the challenges of development and problems related to migration.

In a spirit of friendship and respect, I wish you every success in your deliberations, and I look forward to learning of your achievements and the practical steps you will take, following this symposium.

Thank you.

Related links:
International Migration Symposium Programme
International Migration Symposium Website