Tactics and tools for the protection
of Human Rights Defenders

Update On The Implementation Of The Recommendations Made By The Un Secretary-General’s Representative On Internally Displaced Persons Following His Visit To Turkey

May 2006

At the invitation of the government of Turkey, the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons (RSG), Francis Deng, undertook a mission to Turkey from 27 to 31 May 2002 “to gain first-hand knowledge of the situation of internal displacement in the country and to hold a dialogue with the government, international agencies, representatives of donor countries and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a view to ensuring that the conditions of the internally displaced in Turkey are responded to effectively”.1 As a result of his visit, the RSG presented findings and recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights (hereafter CHR) in November 2002.

The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) has prepared this report in an effort to comprehensively assess the implementation of the RSG’s recommendations, as well as to present findings which reflect a balanced picture of the state of affairs in Turkey. It draws on TESEV’s report written by the Working and Monitoring Group on Internal Displacement in Turkey (hereafter “TESEV Working Group”),2 the fieldwork conducted in 2005 in several provinces by several members of this research group3 and the follow-up research done in February and March 2006.4 In addition, this report also draws upon assessments conducted by human rights groups, civil society organisations and other sources.5

There was inevitably a time lag between the drafting of this report and its publication. Most of the information was updated in early spring 2006, at a time when the Turkish government had confirmed its intention to address the internal displacement problem in line with the Guiding Principles, and international cooperation towards this end was taking off the ground. However, soon afterwards, armed assaults by the PKK and military operations by the Turkish security forces as well as urban protests pertaining to the Kurdish conflict erupted in the eastern and south-eastern provinces of Turkey where original displacement had taken place and where returns have started in the past few years.

The authors of this report are concerned that, if this situation persists in the months to come, it could endanger sustainable returns in the region and even trigger new displacement. This assessment does not contradict the report’s findings, some of which provide an optimistic view of the government’s declared intention to tackle the problem and the evolving international cooperation. To the contrary, the present situation makes one of the report’s key conclusions all the more pertinent: a durable and sustainable solution to the internal displacement problem in Turkey cannot be achieved without a peaceful end to the Kurdish conflict and a process of reconciliation, which would require – among other things – addressing issues of justice, and the disarmament and social rehabilitation of PKK members and government-employed village guards alike.