Munzur Academy of Culture and Arts and Tourism Association published their report, “Preparatory Project for Monitoring, Documenting and Reporting Language Rights in Turkey – Draft Report” with the support of Etkiniz.
The report was prepared by Istanbul Bilgi University’s Study Group on the Cultures of Turkey.
The aim of the report is to present information on concepts, legal framework and methodology to those who will carry out monitoring, documentation and reporting work on language rights in Turkey.
The report’s target audience consists of activists, academics, individuals, CSOs and other organisations who will work on language rights.
The method used in the study is based on an assessment by identified human rights standards of the outcome of the “Language Rights in Turkey” meetings carried out in Dersim and Istanbul in October and November 2019, in which monitoring, documenting and reporting were discussed. Each meeting took two days and included workshops and short reports by workshop groups which contained their research outcomes.
The draft report is based on these short reports. The draft report treats the outcomes of the meeting reports through a conceptual framework and methodological headings. In its conceptual framework, the report presents the concepts and definitions those working in this field might need, as well as providing information about the international and national legal standards on language rights. In the methodology section, information is given about methods that may be used in studying language rights.
The report does not contain an analysis of the situation of language rights. It states that such an analysis will be produced in work taking place in the coming period. This report aims to present the theoretical knowledge, conceptual framework and methodology that will allow for work on language rights. The report also contains a Contents chart for those wishing to carry out monitoring of language rights in Turkey.
The human rights standards the report relies on are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. The report contains sections on these standards.