Turkey rejects EU report, says lacks objectivity
6 September, 2006
Reuters
ANKARA: EU-applicant Turkey yesterday dismissed a European parliament report accusing Ankara of dragging its heels on reforms, saying it lacked common sense and smacked of political bias.
The EU assembly’s foreign affairs committee approved a report late on Monday which slammed Turkey for not living up to the commitments the country gave when it received the green light last October to start talks on joining the bloc.
The report censured insufficient progress on freedom of expression and raised concerns over the lot of religious minorities, corruption and violence against women.
“We think that some elements in the report are written with political motives and without realism and are not in accordance with the European Parliament’s credibility and seriousness,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement.
The statement made no mention of how Turkey would respond to the reform criticism.
Parliament is due to return for a special session in mid-September to pass some laws.
The EU report also demanded that, as a precondition of membership, Ankara acknowledge that Ottoman Turkey committed genocide against Armenians in World War One.
Armenia and its supporters around the world say some 1.5mn Armenians perished in a systematic genocide committed by Ottoman Turkish forces between 1915 and 1923.
Ankara accepts many Armenians were killed on Turkish soil, but says they were victims of a partisan conflict that claimed even more Turkish Muslim lives as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. It denies any genocide.
“We announced this before. That is, to expect us to change (our stance) is simply chasing a dream,” state news agency Anatolian quoted Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as saying.
“Our decisiveness on the subject of the so-called Armenian genocide is the same today as it was in the past. Nobody should expect us to change this,” Erdogan said, adding the decisions taken by the European parliament were not binding.
Despite a flurry of EU-inspired liberal reforms in recent years, promoting certain interpretations of Turkish history can still be deemed a criminal offence under the revised penal code.
Earlier this year, Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink received a suspended six-month jail term over remarks he made about genocide claims.
Two well-known authors face trial next month on charges of insulting “Turkishness.”
The EU report will go before a full parliament sitting at the end of September.
The EU parliament has never sought to veto any past accession but it has been effective in pressuring EU hopefuls to speed up reforms in previous enlargement rounds.
“We expect European Parliament deputies to show the necessary common sense and far-sightedness to correct this situation in the meeting and voting in the general assembly,” Tan said.
The report urged Ankara to recognise Cyprus. Experts fear the dispute over Cyprus and mutual public disenchantment could lead to a breakdown in accession talks with the strategic, Muslim candidate country.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the EU, insisted the bloc remained committed to welcoming Turkey as a member as long as it made the necessary reforms and recognised Cyprus.
“We know it has been a long road and a rocky road and it will be the same in the future. But I don’t hesitate to say, Turkey is welcome,” Halonen told a news conference. – Reuters
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Reuters
ANKARA: EU-applicant Turkey yesterday dismissed a European parliament report accusing Ankara of dragging its heels on reforms, saying it lacked common sense and smacked of political bias.
The EU assembly’s foreign affairs committee approved a report late on Monday which slammed Turkey for not living up to the commitments the country gave when it received the green light last October to start talks on joining the bloc.
The report censured insufficient progress on freedom of expression and raised concerns over the lot of religious minorities, corruption and violence against women.
“We think that some elements in the report are written with political motives and without realism and are not in accordance with the European Parliament’s credibility and seriousness,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement.
The statement made no mention of how Turkey would respond to the reform criticism.
Parliament is due to return for a special session in mid-September to pass some laws.
The EU report also demanded that, as a precondition of membership, Ankara acknowledge that Ottoman Turkey committed genocide against Armenians in World War One.
Armenia and its supporters around the world say some 1.5mn Armenians perished in a systematic genocide committed by Ottoman Turkish forces between 1915 and 1923.
Ankara accepts many Armenians were killed on Turkish soil, but says they were victims of a partisan conflict that claimed even more Turkish Muslim lives as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. It denies any genocide.
“We announced this before. That is, to expect us to change (our stance) is simply chasing a dream,” state news agency Anatolian quoted Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as saying.
“Our decisiveness on the subject of the so-called Armenian genocide is the same today as it was in the past. Nobody should expect us to change this,” Erdogan said, adding the decisions taken by the European parliament were not binding.
Despite a flurry of EU-inspired liberal reforms in recent years, promoting certain interpretations of Turkish history can still be deemed a criminal offence under the revised penal code.
Earlier this year, Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink received a suspended six-month jail term over remarks he made about genocide claims.
Two well-known authors face trial next month on charges of insulting “Turkishness.”
The EU report will go before a full parliament sitting at the end of September.
The EU parliament has never sought to veto any past accession but it has been effective in pressuring EU hopefuls to speed up reforms in previous enlargement rounds.
“We expect European Parliament deputies to show the necessary common sense and far-sightedness to correct this situation in the meeting and voting in the general assembly,” Tan said.
The report urged Ankara to recognise Cyprus. Experts fear the dispute over Cyprus and mutual public disenchantment could lead to a breakdown in accession talks with the strategic, Muslim candidate country.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the EU, insisted the bloc remained committed to welcoming Turkey as a member as long as it made the necessary reforms and recognised Cyprus.
“We know it has been a long road and a rocky road and it will be the same in the future. But I don’t hesitate to say, Turkey is welcome,” Halonen told a news conference. – Reuters
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
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