The Cultural Diversity Convention: When will Turkey Ratify It?

May 21 is celebrated as “World Day For Cultural Diversity For Dialog and Development” since 2001, when UNESCO proclaimed its Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

One of the most important points in the declaration regarding cultural diversity is about languages. It emphasizes education in mother tongue on every level, protection and development of different languages, and it aims for cultural pluralism. UNESCO had declared 2008 “International Year of Languages.”

UNESCO defines the Cultural Diversity Day as an “opportunity to understand the values of cultural diversity and to learn ‘how to live together.’” The administrator of the organization Koichiro Matsuura explained in his message this year that “cultural diversity is indeed an engine of sustainable development and, as such, a decisive weapon in the fight against poverty.”

Turkey has not ratified the convention for the expression of cultural diversity

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions 2005has become binding following ratification by sufficient number of countries. So far, from Cuba to China, Egypt to Togo, 80 countries have ratified the convention. Turkey is still not on the list.

The convention recognizes that “states have the sovereign right to adopt measures and policies to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions within their territory.” On the other hand, it also recognizes “the distinctive nature of cultural activities, goods and services as vehicles of identity, values and meaning” and promotes “international cooperation and solidarity” to enable “countries, especially developing countries, to create and strengthen their means of cultural expression, including their cultural industries, whether nascent or established, at the local, national and international levels.”

To harass Kurdish for its W

Turkish courts, which usually take action upon reports of crime by the police department and the military, harasses the Kurdish declarations, press releases, articles and news reports for the W letter they may naturally include. If the “offender” is a politician then s/he faces the judgment of the law of the political parties that states no language other than Turkish can be used, and if the “offender” is not a politician then s/he faces the Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet from the year 1928. (TK/GG/TB)