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Annual Conference on EU, Turkey and Kurds
ends with Final Resolutions published
8.12.2007
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Final
Resolution from the Fourth International Conference
on EU, Turkey and the Kurds.
December
8, 2007
A press release from the EU-Turkey Civic Commission
for immediate release.
The Fourth International Conference on the EU,
Turkey and the Kurds ended on Tuesday with the EUTCC
board leading discussion of resolutions put forward
by conference participants and attendees.
The conference was opened on 3 December by the 1994
Rafto Prize winner
Ms. Leyla Zana,
Ms. Bianca Jagger, EUTCC Patron, and Mr. Francis
Wurtz, MEP. The two-day conference brought together
NGOs, politicians, academics and activists from
Europe, Turkey, the Kurdish regions and beyond,
seeking to openly address the many outstanding
questions surrounding democratisation, conflict
resolution, reform and human rights in Turkey and
their relevance to the EU-Turkey accession process.
The current context of a grave deterioration in the
reform and accession process, and the growing risk
of internationalisation of the conflict in
south-east Turkey,www.ekurd.net
added to the importance
and urgency of this year’s discussions and
deliberations.Speakers represented a wide range of
opinion and approach to the obstacles facing Turkish
accession to the EU, which led to lively debate and
discussion.
There were several points of contention amongst both
audience members and speakers. While it was
generally agreed that the accession process is a
vital element of the Turkish democratisation
process, opinions differed as to who should be party
to future moves towards a resolution of the Kurdish
issue.
EUTCC chair Kariane Westrheim praised the openness
of this debate and the willingness with which
speakers and participants engaged with the many
approaches and views on offer: “this is precisely
what is needed when addressing the often fraught
issues of human rights and ongoing conflict in
Turkey.
Inevitably views will differ on such important
topics. What is vital, however, is to provide the
space in which all views can be expressed and
debated. The EUTCC is delighted that this week’s
conference once again provided such a space. It is
essential for EU accession, democratisation and the
resolution of the Kurdish question that a similar
space for debate, discussion and engagement is
promoted within Turkey, and that the EU lends its
full support to Turkey in this regard.”
The final resolutions of the conference are
currently being compiled and finalised by the EUTCC
Board and will shortly be made available on the
EUTCC website (http://www.eutcc.org/ ). They will
also be disseminated on MESOP news service.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Kariane WestrheimChair,
EUTCC, Menneskerettighetenes Plass 1, 5007
BergenNorway, Mobile: +47 97642088,
kariane.westrheim@iuh.uib.no
Final Resolution from the Fourth International
Conference on EU, Turkey and the Kurds
The Fourth International Conference on the EU,
Turkey and the Kurds. Monday 3rd -Tuesday 4th
December 2007, European Parliament, Brussels.
Organised by the EU-Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC)
INTRODUCTION TO FINAL
RESOLUTIONS
FINAL RESOLUTIONS
Pursuant to the presentation of Conference papers
and interventions made by delegates, this Conference
resolves to adopt the following declarations and
calls for action to be undertaken by relevant
parties to the conflict in the Kurdish Regions of
Turkey.
Turkey and the EU are at this moment at a critical
juncture. The accession process is widely regarded
as having stalled, or at the very least,
significantly slowed down. Reform implemented in the
first stages of accession is now a distant memory,
and there appears to be regression in progress.
Geopolitical pressures on Turkey over incursions
into Iraq are growing, while Turkey’s domestic
politics are becoming more polarised. How Turkey and
the EU respond to the turbulence of the past year
will be of crucial importance for the future of the
accession process, and the stability of the entire
region.
The Conference resolves to periodically make
recommendations of measures for the Turkish
accession process, the protection of human rights
and the situation of the Kurds.
The Conference issues the
following declarations:
1) Recalling the resolutions from the International
Conferences on Turkey, EU & the Kurds of the
preceding three years, the Conference continues to
give its qualified support to Turkey’s EU accession
process, contingent on demonstrable commitment from
both parties to the human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
2) The Conference calls upon the European Union to
act as a unified body publicly expressing support
for the EU accession process it began, including
support of all EU requirements concerning democratic
and legal reform within Turkey;
3) The Conference notes that the 2007 European
Commission progress report on Turkish accession
found that “no major issue has been addressed and
significant problems persist”, and joins with the
Commission in urging Turkey to confront these
problems;
4) The Conference notes with alarm the failure of
certain institutions within the Turkish State
apparatus to adhere to its obligations under the
European Convention on Human Rights and humanitarian
law in accordance with the spirit and terms of its
own recent reform packages and commitments given
under the accession process; in particular, it is
dismayed that institutions of the State have
continued its military activities;
5) The Conference notes that it has become clear to
everyone, including Turkey and the Turkish army, and
the whole of the international community, that there
is no military solution to the ongoing conflict
6)The Conference calls now upon both Turkey and the
PKK to forthwith stop all hostile military
operations in the region to provide political space
to address the Kurdish questions through dialogue.
7) In particular, the Conference urges Turkey and
the Member States of the EU to take practical and
visible steps to demonstrate their full support for
the establishment of a democratic platform for
dialogue between all peoples constituting the
Turkish Republic;
Human Rights and Accession
8) The Conference supports the undertakings by the
EU that reform in the area of Turkey’s fundamental
rights, democracy and the rule of law must be
strengthened in the course of accession negotiations
and welcomes the commitment by the EU Commission to
continue to monitor the reform process. These
reforms should include a complete overhaul of the
justice system including how judges and prosecutors
are recruited and trained, promoting full
independence of law enforcement officers and public
prosecutors in order prevent the law being used to
achieve political and ideological objectives.
9) The Conference reiterates the view expressed in
the three preceding Conferences, that Turkey has not
yet fulfilled the political elements of the
Copenhagen Criteria, and reiterates that its support
for the accession process is dependent upon the
institutions of the EU robustly enforcing accession
standards. It further underlines that there can be
no further compromises on membership criteria akin
to the EU decision to allow Turkey access to the
negotiating table for ‘sufficiently’ fulfilling the
Copenhagen Criteria;
10) Recalling last year's conference resolution
number 10, the Conference calls upon Turkey to
ratify the European Framework Convention on the
Protection of Minorities as well as other UN
Instruments concerning minorities and to respect the
existing cultural and minority rights of all groups;
and calls on the EU to apply pressure on the
Government of Turkey as a potential member of the EU
to ratify said Framework;
11) Recalling Articles 10, and 14, and Article 2 of
the first Protocol of the European Convention on
Human Rights and Article 8 of the European Charter
for Regional or Minority languages, and the Council
of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly’s resolution 1519
of October 2006 on the cultural situation of the
Kurds, the Conference reiterates its call to the
State of Turkey and the European Union to develop
and promote a strategic plan for mother tongue
education;
12) With specific reference to the 2007 European
Commission progress report, the European Parliament
report on the increasing suicide of women in the
Kurdish regions, as well as recalling the 2005 CEDAW
response to Turkish Report to the Committee,) the
Conference calls on the EU to ensure that Turkey
address the status of all women and girls in the
context of international standards, particularly
considering the high rates of illiteracy, domestic
violence, honor killing,www.ekurd.net
suicide and forced and
early marriages in Turkey, for which the lack of
requisite services and judicial training fail to
guarantee legal protections (and in particular notes
need to address the regional disparity in the
position of women through education, literacy,
access to meaningful employment, political
representation and access to justice); furthermore
it requests the European Union to use all it powers
to ensure that the Turkish Government develops, in
consultation and co-operation with Kurdish women a
National Action Plan to implement UN Security
Council Resolution 1325. Resolution (S/RES/1325) is
the first resolution ever passed by the Security
Council that specifically addresses the impact of
war on women, and women's contributions to conflict
resolution and sustainable peace.
http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf
13) This Conference expresses regret the Turkish
government’s initiation of work on the ill-planned
Ilısu Dam in August 2006, and the start of the
expropriation of land by the Turkish state which
threatens mass displacement and loss of livelihood
of the area’s inhabitants, the majority of whom are
Kurds; endangers the historically important city of
Hasankeyf, in an apparent attempt to further
disassociate Kurds from their rich heritage and
culture; and will, according to several
environmental assessment reports, further jeopardize
access to water for Turkey’s neighbours and cause
irreversible environmental harm;
14) In reference to the above, the Conference calls
upon the Turkish government to reassess its position
vis-à-vis this project, as well as the bodies of the
EU monitoring the impact of internal displacement
and what the potential effects of this project are
on the already overpopulated urban centres of the
Kurdish regions, as well as calling on member
governments to put pressure on foreign capital
companies to withdraw their investments in the
project;
15) The Conference expresses its deep concern over
Turkey’s employment of articles of the criminal code
to prosecute writers, journalists, intellectuals,
lawyers and many other defenders of free speech,
including articles 215, 216 (incitement to hatred),
217, 220 (making propaganda for a criminal
organization) 288 (attempt to influence a fair
trial) and 301 (insulting ‘Turkishness’) of the
Turkish Penal Code; the Conference calls on the EU
to ensure that Turkey remove restrictions on freedom
of expression from their legal framework entirely.
16) We call upon Turkey to fulfill its positive
obligations under article 10 of the ECHR to promote
a positive climate in which freedom of expression to
flourish, and to protect writers, journalists,
intellectuals, lawyers and many other defenders of
free speech from unlawful interference by state and
non-state actors.
The Centrality of the Kurdish Question
17) The Conference asserts that the resolution of
the Kurdish conflict is essential to the
establishment of a stable, democratic and peaceful
Turkey capable of entering the European Union. True
democratic reform can only occur if Turkey
undertakes new political reform to its state
institutions and banishes adherence to ethnic
nationalism which is the root cause of the conflict
and Turkey’s endemic instability;
18) This Conference therefore asserts that the
Kurdish people and their representatives should be
given a genuine participatory role in the accession
process and in any debate over Turkey’s democratic
constitutional future;
19) However, the Conference further asserts that
more must and can be done on both sides and calls
for the following confidence building measures to be
adopted;
Confidence Building Measures
20) This conference notes the resolution of the
conflict and the constitutional recognition of Kurds
in Turkey is central to regional stability.
21) In this respect, the Conference calls upon the
Turkish Government to begin a public debate about
the constitutional recognition of the existence of
the Kurdish people within Turkey;
22) The Conference calls upon all political parties
in Turkey to help foster the conditions within
Turkey for a democratic platform for dialogue;
23) The Conference calls upon the EU actively to
support efforts for dialogue on minorities and
specifically on Kurds in Turkey;
24) The Conference urges Turkey to recognize that
for democracy to function, it is imperative that
local government structures enjoy the full support
of national government.
25) At this critical juncture at this time all
actors involved (the EU, Turkey and the Kurds) must
take heed of lessons from their past, and act in
accordance with international law and humanitarian
norms.
26) In particular, the Conference calls upon the
Turkish Government to ensure that all legally
constituted Kurdish democratic parties are allowed
to engage in peaceful political activity without
interference or constant threat of closure,www.ekurd.net
with particular
reference to the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and
its current democratically elected members of
parliament; in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of
the European Convention of Human Rights; further to
immediately cease the harassment and
politically-motivated investigations of Kurdish
politicians.
27) The Conference notes the recommendations of the
ECtHR in several cases, but in particular regarding
the case of Abdullah Ocalan vs Turkey, regarding
conditions of detention in Turkey. The Conference
further calls on the Turkish government to implement
CPT (Committee on Prevention of Torture)
recommendations on conditions of detention and
specifically the health of Mr. Ocalan, and close
—with immediate effect— Imrali island.
28) The Conference also urges each member state of
the European Union to assist —including by
earmarking funds— in the creation of a democratic
platform for dialogue between Turkey and the Kurds
and fully comply with their own freedom of
expression obligations in respect of those Kurdish
organisations and individuals who are concerned to
promote the same;
29) The Conference reiterates that the Governments
of the EU should not criminalise peaceful dissent of
Turkey echoed by Kurdish organisations situated in
Europe and to review its proscription of certain
Kurdish organisations, especially in the light of
public commitments to the search for a peaceful
solution of the Kurdish question within the present
territorial integrity of a democratically reformed
Turkey;
30) Finally, the Conference renews its mandate for
its Directors, Advisors and Committees, to engage
and campaign on both a political and civic level
across Europe in support of Turkey’s accession bid
to join the European Union on the basis of this
resolution.
eutcc org
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