When a Kurd becomes nostalgic about past governments

If the ?old Turkey? is identified with the period that precedes the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), when the country was governed by mainstream parties on the center-right and center-left of the political spectrum under military-judicial tutelage, then veteran Kurdish politician Hasip Kaplan would be neither a fan of that period nor of those parties.

The Kurds were the biggest victims of the shortcomings of Turkish democracy in the 1990s. Naturally, they became the biggest winners of the comprehensive reform process that began in 1999, the year when Turkey was accepted as a candidate to join the European Union.

With the initiative of the coalition government in power at the time, the 1982 constitution prepared under military rule was amended extensively on Oct. 3, 2001 by the Turkish parliament. This was the most comprehensive modification in the constitution since its inauguration.

Several harmonization packages were also introduced to amend legislation that was not in line with EU standards in several areas, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and gender equality.

A new Civil Code, which entered into force on Jan. 1, 2002, brought significant changes in the areas of gender equality, protection of children and vulnerable persons and freedom of association.

The first harmonization package, which entered into force on Feb. 19, 2002, enacted a series of amendments to the Penal Code, the Anti-terror Law, the Law on the State Security Courts, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, within the context of expanding freedom of expression. It also reduced pre-trial detention periods and safeguarded provisions on the rights of prisoners.

In order to enhance the exercise of freedom of expression,...