And Here are Bianet’s Questions for Prime Minister Erdogan…

Journalists Ergun Babahan, Hasan Cemal and Mustafa Karaalioglu, as well as sociologist Prof. Dr. Beril Dedeoglu met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the atv channel on Sunday (17 February) to ask him about current issues.

On first glance it seemed as if they had all the “hot topics” covered, but they only touched on rights issues.

Thus, we at bianet decided to ask Erdogan our own questions. There could be many more, but this is an initial list:

Deaths in Tuzla shipyards

As far as labour organisations have been able to confirm, there have been 83 deaths in Tuzla shipyards. In the last eight months, there were 16, and only in the new year, there have been six. So, what are you doing to promote humane working conditions at the Tuzla shipyards? What are you going to do with the employers who create the working conditions which cause deaths?

Kurdish issue

What is your plan for a democratic, peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue and an end to conflict?

Labour rights

When will there be a legal framework which guarantees universal trade union rights?

When will you listen to the warnings of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)?

When will you withdraw your reservations to the rights to trade union membership, strikes and collective bargaining in the European Social Charter?

Torture

When will you ratify the Additional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture which offers an important mechanism for monitoring the centres depriving people of their personal freedoms and for preventing torture? When will you meet with rights organisations in order to agree on a national mechanism?

When will you amend the Law on Police Duties and Powers which has led to an increase in torture and rights violations?

Discrimination

When will you legislate against all kinds of discrimination and hate speeches?

Semdinli, Susurluk

When will you take the commission reports on the Semdinli and Susurluk events (in which the “deep state” has been involved in illegal activities) to parliament?

Military-civilian relations

When will the office of Chief of General Staff become linked to the Ministry of Defense rather than the Prime Ministerial Office?

When will there be an end to the two-headed judicial system of military and civilian courts? When will military courts only be used for disciplinary misdemeanours in the army?

When will the Chief of General Staff stop being a member of the institution which decides on whether he should be prosecuted?

What was discussed and decided at the meeting with Chief of General Staff Yasar Büyükanit in Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul? There has been no explanation offered.

When will the right to conscientious objection become acknowledged as a constitutional right?

Murder of  journalist Hrant Dink

Why are the police and gendarmerie officers who played suspicious roles in the Hrant Dink murder still in office?

Freedom of expression

When will you change not only Article 301 (“denigrating Turkishness or institutions of the Turkish Republic”), but also the 14 other articles identified by rights organizations as obstructing freedom of expression?

Law on Elections and Political Parties

When will you abolish the 10 percent election hurdle? How do you plan to change it?

When will the obstructions to internal democracy in political parties be lifted?

Women’s rights

When will there be a quota to ensure that there are female decision makers in political parties, parliament and work places?

How do you monitor whether the Prime Ministerial order concerning violence towards women is applied?

Why do you abolish the protection and support of working women in the last legal package on employment and the “Social Security Reform”?

When will you finally open the women’s shelters which local authorities are obliged to have?

Social policy

What will you do in order to rectify the inequality in income distribution?

Education and children’s rights

Despite decrees of the European Court of Human Rights, compulsory Religious Education classes still exist. When will you abolish them?

When will you withdraw Turkey’s reservation to the right to education in children’s mother tongue in the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

When will Turkey ratify the international conventions related to the protection of minorities and cultures?

When will discriminatory content be taken out of school books?

What will you do to ensure full academic freedom?

Equality and sexual orientation

When will you add the criterion of sexual orientation to the constitutional guarantee of equality?

Climate change, environment and cultural treasures

When will you ratify the Kyoto Protocol? As the Kyoto period draws to a close, what are your plans?

Court decisions protecting the environment and people against gold mining in particular are not applied – why?

How will you save Allianoi and Hasankeyf (both ancient cities which will be flooded in dam projects)?

Despite analyses which show the risks and inefficiency of nuclear energy, why are you insisting on introducing nuclear power plants to Turkey? What are you doing for a long-term policy on renewable energy? (TK/AG)