Democratic initiative process ()(also called the Kurdish Opening) is the name of the process in which the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a project aiming to improve standards of democracy, freedoms and respect for human rights in Turkey. The project is called the Unity and Fraternity Project (). Interior Minister Beşir Atalay stated the primary goals of the initiative as improving the democratic standards and to end terrorism in Turkey. "We will issue circulars in the short term, pass laws in the medium term, and make constitutional amendments in the long term and take required steps," Prime Minister Erdoğan said.Turkey's govt to send bills on Kurdish opening to Parliament. Azerbaijan Today. 2010-01-09.
Roundtable meetings Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hold several meetings with prominent figures of the Turkish society at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. In these meetings, Erdoğan explained the importance and the necessity of the democratic initiative. The meetings were broadcast live on television and radio. It was the first time in Turkish history that a prime minister hosted such meetings.
The first meeting was on February 20, 2010. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came together with renowned names of Turkish pop, folk and classical music to ask for their support for the democratic initiative. “Your songs have the power to transcend deaf walls. You are the heartfelt voice of this country. I ask you to help this movement of change with your artistic sensitivity.” Erdoğan said. Rojin, a singer of Kurdish origin, came to the meeting with dossiers in her hand, asking for justice for the minors facing long-term jail sentences for throwing stones at the police in the southeastern provinces.
The second meeting was on March 20, 2010. The Prime Minister met with prominent figures of the Turkish cinema. Erdoğan stressed that the democratic initiative would be incomplete without the artists’ support. “Deep down in my heart I believe that you will shoulder the process and lend your support, contribute and make an effort to solving Turkey's painful problems,” he said. Erdoğan also argued that the AKP government had embarked on this journey with the inspiration it received from messages given by artists. “We set off on the road after having seen the issues raised by artists, starting from their products, and taking inspiration and strength from them. Thus, your words, suggestions and criticism bear a vital significance for us. What we are doing today is simply bringing all those problems you talked about in your movies, soap operas, plays and shows onto our agenda. It is an effort to produce concrete solutions to them. Many unmentioned, non-discussed, invisible, unknown and ignored groups and their problems have been made known thanks to you. You first noticed all those pains, sorrows, needs and then you made them public,” he said. In the afternoon there was a meeting with radio programmers. Yavuz Seçkin, one of the attendants, said he has been working in the industry for 15 years and that Erdoğan was the first prime minister to ask about their views on a matter troubling the country.
On April 17, 2010 was the third meeting with authors and thinkers. The Prime Minister told the attendees that there has recently been a serious change of paradigm in the administration of the state. According to the prime minister, the goal of the meetings is to discuss the country's chronic problems and reach broad agreement on ways to solve them. “Long-lasting problems obstruct the development of the country and the nation. They waste our energy and resources.”
The fourth meeting was on June 5, 2010. Erdoğan met with prominent figures of the sports world and the internet media.
In the fifth meeting on July 18, Erdoğan met with women representatives from various civil society groups, including NGOs such as or the Foundation for Women's Solidarity (). In his opening address, Erdoğan stressed that the project has not lost any speed, but noting that the government and society cannot successfully solve the nation's issues without the constructive input and participation of others. He advised them to contribute instead of just criticizing, saying "those who allege that the democratic opening has no content, they can fill it themselves. We are ready for this." “Despite our calls, nobody is coming up to us with anything. You can't resolve issues that were developed over hundreds of years in a single night.”PM Erdoğan meets with women's NGO reps. Today's Zaman. 2010-07-19 In the subsequent Q&A session, he was asked why he kept addressing them exclusively as mothers, overlooking the fact that they are fully-fledged economic, political and juridical persons. Erdoğan's widely noted answer was: "I do not believe in the equality of men and women. I believe in equal opportunities. Men and women are different and complementary."
The last meeting was on September 27, 2010. Prime Minister Erdoğan invited dozens of representatives from Turkey's leading media companies. During the meeting, the prime minister touched upon a large number of hot issues, including the referendum, expectations for a new constitution, approaching parliamentary elections and compulsory military service.
Ethnic groups
Armenian initiative Turkey was among the first countries in the world to recognize the state of Armenia after its independence in 1991. After Armenia's occupation of the Azeri territory Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey sided with its Turkic ally Azerbaijan over the First Nagorno-Karabakh War by closing its borders with Armenia. Since then, the border remains closed.
On February 21, 2008, President Abdullah Gül send a message of congratulations to the newly elected Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and said "that he hoped the victory of Sargsyan in Armenia's presidential election would lead to a normalization of relations between their estranged countries." In reaction, Armenian President Sargsyan invited Gül to attend a FIFA World Cup qualifier football match between the Turkish and Armenian national football teams. After accepting the invitation, President Gül became the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia on September 3, 2008. This “football diplomacy” and new dialogue resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries.Turkey eyes normal ties with Armenia after election. Reuters. 2008-02-21.
The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the protocols “cannot be interpreted or applied in the legislative process and application practice of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the interstate relations in a way that would contradict the provisions of the preamble to the RA Constitution and the requirements of Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence of Armenia.” Turkey said that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable.Turkey says Armenian top court's ruling on protocols not acceptable. Today's Zaman. 2010-01-20. The parliament of Armenia and Turkey decided for the suspension of the ratification process.
Between May 2005 and October 2006, the Turkish Ministry of Culture financed the restoration of an old Armenian church located in an eastern Turkish province. The restoration had a stated budget of 2 million Turkish lira (approximately 1.4 million USD)
On April 2, 2009, the Turkish state television started broadcasts in Armenian on for half an hour twice a day.
On September 19, 2010, a religious ceremony was held at the historical Armenian church after permission of the Turkish government for the first time in 95 years. The museum located on Akdamar Island in Lake Van in Turkey was opened to worshippers allowing to worship once a year for a single day.Armenian mass a sign of growing tolerance. Financial Times. 2010-09-19.
In 2010, Armenian schools in Turkey received updated textbooks after a decision by Nimet Çubukçu, the Minister of Education. The old textbooks had not been revised since 1934.Armenian students in Turkey have new books, 80 years later. Hürriyet Daily News. 2010-10-04.
Kurdish initiative
The Kurdish initiative (, also called Kurdish Opening) was the most discussed initiative of the government. The main goal of the Kurdish initiative was to improve the human rights of Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin and to end a 25-year conflict between Turkey and the PKK. Interior Minister Beşir Atalay was responsible for the coordination of the initiative.
On 29 July 2009, Minister Beşir Atalay announced the government's Kurdish move, vowing to solve the problem through “more freedom and more democracy.” Few days later, the government held its first workshop to hear suggestions on the move from important intellectuals, including columnists and academics. On August 25, 2009, the General Staff reiterated the military's commitment in preserving Turkey's “unitary” structure and said the Kurdish move cannot be accepted as a compromise process with the PKK.
On 13 November 2009, Atalay informed the Parliament about the initiative and had preliminary talks with opposition parties regarding the issue. The democratic initiative aimed to protect and extend the human rights and freedoms of every citizen, regardless of ethnicity, religion and political or social choices, Atalay said. “These developments will align our domestic policies with the European Convention on Human Rights,” Atalay said, disclosing six medium-term goals as part of the democratic initiative.
On the same day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on parliamentary deputies to support the democratic initiative in respect to pluralist structure of the first Turkish Parliament, which commanded the country's independence war in the early 1920s. “Parliament is the stage where all issues will be frankly and freely debated. This Parliament cannot fall behind Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Parliament. We cannot sacrifice the basic principles that were based on pluralism, freedom and democracy 89 years ago," Erdoğan said in his long-speech he delivered at the special session. Atatürk established diplomatic relations with the occupier countries as soon as the war was over, Erdoğan said, repeating his famous remark, “Peace at home and peace in the world.” The final aim is to reach national unity and brotherhood. It is a process of democracy,” he said while describing the move. The deputies representing the Republican People's Party (CHP), later left the parliamentary hall in protest. CHP leader Deniz Baykal commented that Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party was trying to divide the country. Erdoğan stated that he would travel to all 81 provinces to explain the content of the democratic initiative. He also accused the main opposition party CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of ignoring the citizens in eastern Anatolia. “The difference is richness,” he said.PM says gov't to tour 81 cities to inform nation about Kurdish move. Hürriyet Daily News. 2009-11-13.