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International Law in Turkey - PDF

   

Added on  2020-05-11

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Running Head: PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TURKEY 1PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TURKEY NameInstitutional affiliation Date

PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TURKEY 2Perspectives on International Law in Turkey IntroductionThe International Human Rights law was established in 1948 under the Declaration of rights of human beings. These rights are used to express the right and freedoms of all human beings irrespective of their race, origin or background. This was an agreement made to uphold the nature of human beings and has been used to create treaties, bills, conventions and constitutional provisions (Human rights, 2006). The International Human Rights consist of the two Covenants on Civil, Political Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Bill of Human Beings’ Rights (Michael, 2014). The International Law protects human rights through International Treaties. For instance, when a country joins a treaty that is bound by the international human rights law, it must protect individual human rights, and avoid from interfering with those rights (United Nations, n.d.).Turkey is a country that is accused of human rights violations on multiple occasions especially due to the series of coups experienced. Human rights conventions have been ratified invarious states but there are still many violations that are reported especially in non-western countries. In Turkey, the government had made efforts to protect and respect individual human rights. However, recently after the attempted coup in 2016, the violation of human rights has been on the rise. This essay argues about the universalism and relativity of human beings’ rights. TurkeyIn the past, Turkey was under the Ottoman Empire which underwent secession after the first world war. As a result, in 1923, a new Turkey was established. The international human rights conventions were established after the second world war. Traditionally, Turkey was a country that violated human rights especially those of detainees. This is mainly due to the coups

PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TURKEY 3that have affected it between 1960 and 1980. In 2002, the new government under the Justice and Development Party uphold the international law and it started by abolishing the state of emergency that had been there for twenty-five years (Human Rights and the Transformation Process in Turkey, 2013).This government made changes that were targeted towards improving the human rights laws in Turkey. In 2010, the constitution was amended and it included more rights and the restructuring of the judicial system. In 2013, it established a legal framework that allowed more freedom of speech based on the penal code of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) (Buckley, 2001). In addition, the prisons were inspected by the human rights inquiry committee which shared the findings with non- governmental organizations. Similarly, there have been efforts made to protect women’s right regarding violence and abuse. Indeed, Turkey was the firstcountry to sign the document on the convention in Istanbul concerning violence against women. additionally, there was more awareness on human rights with the issue being added to the primary school curriculum, high school electives, and professional training programs. Lastly, people with different religious beliefs were allowed to practice their religions and have different schools based on these beliefs (Human Rights and the Transformation Process in Turkey, 2013). In July 2016, there was a failed coup aimed against President Erdoğan and the Justice andDevelopment Party in Turkey. The coup left more than 200 people dead and approximately 2000injured. The events that led to the coup were clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the government that left civil servant such as mayors jobless or detained. The government also blocked non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nation from documenting human rights violations in the southeast region of the country(Amnesty International, 2017). It is worth noting that the Kurdistan’s Workers Party is defined as a terrorist

PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW IN TURKEY 4group by the United States, the European Union and the Turkish government(Miles, 2017). In addition, the parliament had approved a law that gave the president executive powers. After the failed coup, the government announced a state of emergency which was later extended in October. Over the following months, there have been cases of human rights abuses of the detainees and civil servants. The country deviated from the two human rights conventions aforementioned but it is prohibited from deviating from the core rights that protect the rights of detainees(Human Rights Watch, 2017). The Turkish government has succeeded in denying the freedom of expression in the country by attacking journalists through prosecution, jailing and closing down of media outlets. Moreover, it has taken over media companies through appointing government trustees such as the Zaman Newspaper. Major government critics were also arrested and twitter accounts suspended at the request of the government. Civil servants such as teachers, and judges were suspended without investigation and non-governmental organizations shut down. In addition, trustees were appointed to replace elected officials. Perspectives of human rights in Turkey and the WestHuman beings’ rights are universal which means they are the same irrespective of the country where they are practiced. Universalism is the view that rights are similar in every country. Rights are either right or wrong depending on their nature not on their cultural setting. However, these rights can be applied differently depending on the cultural settings (Ellis, Emon, & Glahn, 2012). In addition, this means that though a right depends on the culture of the people, it’s the nature of the right that determines its application. This view of human rights has been opposed because it is seen as a way for the Western states to dominate other states. This is mainly because human rights were developed by western states and seem to favor their interests. In a broader concept, this way of thinking is referred to as liberalism. Liberalists believe that

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