4th UN Forum on Minority Issues 2930th November, 2011, Geneva Statement by Ela Esra Gunad The Association for Social Change, Turkey Madam Chairperson, Distinguished delegates, And c ivil soc iety representatives; The Forum on Minority Issues offers an essential opportunity to adress the c hallenges and problems for minorities. I am Ela Esra Gunad, speaking on behalf of The Assoc iation for Soc ial Change,Turkey, an NGO working to ensure the c oexistenc e of different identities, and eliminate all forms of violenc e and disc rimination. I want to draw attention to c ontinued violations of ec onomic , soc ial and c ultural rights of the Kurds in Turkey and in partic ular the impac t on Kurdish women. The Kurds are an ethnic minorty group, of approximatley 14 million people, yet despite their size, Kurds are not offic ially rec ognized as a minority group in Turkey and the existenc e of the language and c ulture c ontinues to be denied. As a result of tensions between the Turkish government and PKK, between 1-3 million Kurds have been displac ed from their villages, over the last 20 years, as part of the government's strategy on c ombating terrorism in the East and South East Anatolian parts of Turkey. The majority of Kurds lived in these two regions. Their inc ome and lifestyle was c onnec ted direc tly to the regions, mainly through agric ulture and livestoc k. This displac ement has been well doc umented in several international reports. After their forc ed displac ement, many Kurdish people moved to c ities, where they fac e harsh poverty and high levels of unemployment. 60% of the population in mainly Kurdish areas, are existing below the poverty line. Meanwhile, spec ific ally Village Guards —pro-government grOup- have benefited from the displac ed people's lands. The strategy has resulted with violation of right to use their property and lands. Ac c ounts of disc rimination against Kurds bec ause of their birth plac e, appearanc e or ac c ent is c ommon in everyday life. This, in c onjunc tion with poverty and other fac tors, inc luding disc riminative c ustoms against girls and women, sexual violenc e, disc rimination in employement, restric tion on the use of mother tongue in daily life, limited educ ational servic es in Kurdish region and a lac k of livlihood programs for, in partic ular, for displac ed peoples, c reates an environment, in whic h Kurdish women in partic ular fac e multiple and interlinking forms of disc rimination. Referring to Draft Rec ommendation Artic le 77, 1 want to stress that displac ement and lac k of ac c ess to the use of a land, has resulted in an inadequate standard of living , with multiple effec ts for Kurdish women's ec onomic independenc e, soc ial status and politic al influenc e. Therefore, 1 would like to welc ome Turkish government to develop educ ational and employment programs for displac ed Kurdish women in ec onomic life at national and loc al level. I would also like to ac knowledge positive measures on affirmative ac tion, established by the government in 2009, aimed at addressing the 'Kurdish issue. However, these are not being followed through. The Assoc iation for Soc ial Change c alls upon the Turkish state: - To enac t the Law on Combating Disc rimination, and eliminate all forms of disc rimination under the rule of law, with a further c onsideration of Thank you.