Uluslararası hukuk altında dilsel azınlık hakları: Sert ve yumuşak hukuk korumaları ve Türkiye'deki kürtlerin dil hakları üzerine bir analiz

In this thesis, the question posed is whether there's an appropriate international linguistic rights regime in place and what are the implications of an undefined regime to the international community. The thesis argues that there is a lack of definition and scope within the current hard law paradigm in international human rights law when dealing with linguistic minority rights and this deficiency is apparent in how the UN human rights bodies respond to current domestic issues such as the one concerning the Kurdish-speaking minority in Turkey. This research question is answered and analyzed by examining the current hard law in place via the major UN human rights treaties and jurisprudence coming out of the HRC. Hard law on a regional level is also looked at through the European system and the jurisprudence from the ECtHR. Soft law developments on the regional and international level are also examined to highlight how an appropriate linguistic rights regime could be structured. Turkey's rights regime towards its Kurdish-speaking minority is used as a case study to highlight the deficiencies of the current international system and the urgency for its improvement.