UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE

LANGUAGE POLICY AND USE IN TURKEY

ETHIC CONSIDERATIONS

Author: Ms Joan-Marie Steenkamp This document was written as part of a research assignment at the University of the Free State concerning language policy and language rights. This study was conducted using literature material.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 2

INTRODUCTION CRITERIA FOR ETHICAL LANGUAGE POLICY

1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 6

2.1. Moral Sensitivity (recognition) 2.2. Moral Judgement 2.3. Moral Motive 3 4 5 EVALUATION OF TURKEYS LANGUAGE POLICY ETHICAL POLICY ANALYSIS OF TURKEY CONCLUSION

REFERENCE

INTRODUCTION Ethics can be defined as: that branch of philosophy dealing with the values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions (Dictionary.com, 2012).

There is no definite or universal set of ethical rules that govern how people or individuals should act. Ethics are mostly forthcoming out of peoples frame of reference, or how the view the world based on cognitive and practical learning received throughout life, but mainly ingrained during childhood. Culture can therefore also be seen as the main factor influencing a groups frame of reference, as culture is a set of values that a group share (Dictionary.com, 2012c).

This section deals with the policies in place in Turkey and the ethical repercussions as per definition of ethics above.

CRITERIA FOR ETHICAL LANGUAGE POLICY As mentioned, ethics revolve around human conduct or actions that can be deemed as right or wrong. Such conduct is usually determined by a set of rules, whether written or implied. These rules can be from ethnicity (including culture, religion, status, language or other geo-demographic factors) or from the governing bodies (such as business ethic policies or government policies) (McDaniel et al, 2006).

When making policies or rules, governing bodies need to take in ethical considerations, as neglecting ethical considerations can result in conflict. These ethical factors that need to be taken into account include moral sensitivity (recognition), moral judgement (Johnson, 2008:236) and moral motives. These factors will be briefly discussed.

2.1. Moral Sensitivity (recognition) According to Craig Johnson (2008:236), moral sensitivity can be defined as recognizing the presence of an ethical issue. Most problems arise out of being insensitive to ethical considerations when it comes to decision making. Problem recognition requires sensitivity to others needs, realising how behaviour will affect outcomes and how evaluation of the consequenses of these actions or strategies may affect long-term outcomes.

Furthermore, it is then required that action be taken to rectify such matters, as the effects can be harmful to society in the longterm. However, on a macroscale such as a governing body, moral sensitivity is more difficult to apply since the decisions do not depend entirely on one individual with his/her perception of moral or ethical behaviour.

2.2. Moral Judgement Moral judgement concerns ethical judgement in decision making (Johnson, 2008:241). On a macro scale this would imply the decisions made as a whole that would affect society either positively or negatively. However, judgements in decision making are usually influenced by personal or individual factors within the micro-environment. When groups that share the same value system (such as religious or cultural beliefs), they tend to make decisions according to their frame of reference (Dietrich, 2010).

2.3. Moral Motives Motives may be defined as something that causes someone to act in a certain way (Dictionary.com, 2012b). Because groups mostly make decisions based on their own frame of reference influenced by their culture (Dietrich, 2010), their motives will vary according to their perception of the situation. These motives in turn will, to a large extent, govern the actions taken with regards to decisions. These actions may be either positive or negative.

In this sense, ethics relates to the values of human conduct based on their own perception of what can be determined as right or wrong. Their frame of

reference influences this perception, and so decisions made and actions taken may be ethical for one group, but not for another. The motives governing one group may be contradictory to other groups. Turkeys language policies will be evaluated with regards to the above criteria.

EVALUATION OF TURKEYS LANGUAGE POLICY In the previous assignment, the Turkish language policies and implications were discussed, hence they will not be discussed here. However, the ethical considerations of those policies will now be discussed according to moral sensitivity, moral judgement and moral motives. These will be taken from both the Turkish and Kurdish ethnic groups view points.

The main reason why the government decided to make Turkish the official language was for unification of the nation (ITA, 2004). The motives governing the decision at the time can be argued as ethical from the Turkish view-point, since it happened after World War I and Turkey was a new republic. However, moral judgement and sensitivity were lacking in this decision as the government at that time did not take into account the damage and long-term implications they would be inflicting upon the cultural heritage of minority groups, of which the Kurds are the most affected. The choice for using Turkish as the official language has been justified as an equalising force in both social and economic fields (Sharifi, 2012).

However, this still shows insensitivity to the minority groups and a lack of fair moral judgement towards these groups. The minority groups (who will collectively be referred to as Kurds) are losing their language because of the policies in place, even though some advancements have been made in the realm of education (Sharifi, 2012). The Kurds have reacted violently because they have not been acknowledged in the constitution, even though the constitution makes provision for the equal treatment of all people and languages (Turkish Constitution, 2001).

ETHICAL POLICY ANALYSIS OF TURKEY It can therefore be deduced that both sides view their claims as ethical according to their frame of reference. On the one hand the Turkish government believe that they are acting ethically with regards to the well-being of Turkey as a nation by enforcing one language.

However, the results of these policies must be taken into account. The Kurds have been displaced, violently subdued, imprisoned and even killed simply because they refuse to abandon their language, ethnicity and culture (Sharifi, 2012). According to basic human rights, this is unethical behaviour on the part of the Turkish government. Yet progress to right these wrongs has been dragging along for more than a decade. Referring once again to the definition of ethics, the values relating to human conduct and the rightness or wrongness of certain actions and the motives that governs such actions, the Turkish government can be viewed as acting unethically with regards to the minority groups. The displacement and violence of Kurds in itself can also be viewed as ethically wrong.

CONCLUSION Ethics can be defined as values relating to human conduct with regards to the negative or positive implications of actions taken. Frames of reference can be seen as factors governing choices individuals or groups make due to the influence of their culture.

Criteria that can be used to measure the ethicality of decisions and actions include moral sensitivity (an awareness of ethical issues), moral judgement (decisions made that takes fairness into account and moral motives (the motives that govern decisions and actions).

It can be argued that the Turkish government has made unethical policies with regards to the three criteria mentioned. They have not been sensitive to the needs of the minority groups with regards to cultural acceptance and acknowledgement, because they strive to unite Turkey as one nation using

language as their main tool (motive). This has led to poor judgement in making and executing policies that limit the use of other languages. This naturally led to conflict arising between Turkish ethnic groups and Kurdish ethnic groups, which have suffered extensively due to the suppression of their culture and language. By violating human rights, the Turkish government can be seen as acting unethical, or wrongly, towards other minority groups such as the Kurds.

REFERENCE Dietrich, C., 2010 Decision Making: Factors that Influence Decision Making, Heuristics Used, and Decision Outcomes [Online] available at

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/decision-making-factors-that-influencedecision-making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes accessed 14 August 2012 Dictionary.com, 2012. Ethics [Online] available at

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics accessed 14 August 2012 Dictionary.com, 2012b. Motives [Online] available at

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/motive accessed 14 August 2012 Dictionary.com, 2012c. Frame of Reference [Online] accessed available 14 at

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frame+of+reference 2012

August

Johnson, C.E., 2008. Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow. 3rd ed. Los Angeles, Calefornia: Sage Publications ITA, 2004.Turkey Language Reform: From Ottoman to Turkish [Online] available at

http://www.photius.com/countries/turkey/society/turkey_society_language_reform_fro ~2426.html accessed 14 August 2012 McDaniel, C., Lamb, C.W. & Hair, J.F., 2006. Introduction to Marketing. 8th ed. Ohio: Thomson South-Western. Sharifi, A., 2012. Kurdish as an Elective: Language Rights in Turkey [Online] available at http://www.turkishweekly.net/op-ed/2986/kurdish-as-an-elective-

language-rights-in-turkey.html accessed 14 August 2012 Turkish Constitution, 2001. The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey [Online] available at

http://www.anayasa.gov.tr/images/loaded/pdf_dosyalari/THE_CONSTITUTION_OF_ THE_REPUBLIC_OF_TURKEY.pdf accessed 14 August 2012