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Euobserver, Brussels, August 30 ,-- Almost a
year after Turkey officially opened EU membership
talks with Brussels, MEPs are preparing a report
strongly critical of the country's progress on human
rights issues.
The 11-page draft report, drawn up by Dutch
centre-right MEP Camiel Eurlings, says the the
European Parliament "deplores the fact that only
limited progress has been reported over the last
year as regards fundamental rights and freedoms" and
"deplores the absence of progress in the area of
freedom of religion since parliament's last report."
It notes in the preamble that "freedom of expression
is far from satisfactory" and that "corruption
remains a serious problem."
The resolution also stresses that EU member states'
negotiations with the country, opened last year in
October, represent an "open-ended process and does
not lead a priori and automatically to accession."
Managing Turkey
Tapping into a hot discussion held earlier this year
on whether the EU will manage to take on board the
huge and poor country, the draft also states the "EU's
capacity to absorb Turkey while maintaining the
momentum of integration is an important
consideration…".
The key topic of Ankara's non-recognition of Cyprus
also features with the report reminding Turkey that
changing this remains a "necessary component of the
accession process."
However, it does also note some positive aspects of
Turkey's EU efforts saying that it "welcomes the
adoption of the law on internally placed people" and
"recognises the improvements in legislation … as
regards the policy of zero tolerance towards
torture."
The report, which appears annually, is causing the
usual ripples in the EU assembly with MEPs proposing
343 amendments - around 115 pages. Currently, they
are trying to forge agreement on eight pages of
"compromise amendments."
MEPs from across the political spectrum are trying
to get their view point into the report with
comments on the new anti-terror laws in Turkey, on
honour killings, on the genocide in Armenia and on
changing the electoral threshold for representation
in the parliament.
The Cyprus issue
The report is due to be voted on in the foreign
affairs committee on Monday (4 September) and will
then be put before the whole of the parliament,
probably in late September.
The parliament is keen to get its vote and opinion
on the table as quickly as possible so it can
influence the European Commission's annual report on
Turkey's accession progress - due out on 26 October.
For its part, the commission's report is set to be
highly critical of Ankara's continued refusal to
implement the Ankara protocol with the EU having
repeatedly urged Turkey to lift its embargo on
Cypriot-flagged vessels and aircraft as part of the
country's membership negotiations.
Turkey's signature of the protocol extending a
customs accord with the EU to the bloc's 10 new
states - including Cyprus - should result in the
embargo being lifted.
Ankara has indicated that any concessions to Nicosia
would be dependent on moves by the EU to end the
economic isolation of the Turkish-populated north of
Cyprus – a stance Brussels has rejected.
A critical report by Brussels and continued
resistance by Ankara on the Cyprus issue is set to
bring the whole issue to a political head later this
autumn.
euobserver com
Kurdish issue has not been mentioned at all
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq,Turkey,Syria,Iran,Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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