Information and liaison bulletin - Institut kurde de Paris

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Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basin Ôzeti
EU draft report criticizes the reduced
pace of reform in Turkey
By Stephen Castle
BRUSSELS: In a new blow to
Turkey's hopes of joining the
European Union, an annual re¬
port has concluded that reforms
there slowed in 2007 because of a
constitutional crisis over the
election of a president with an Is¬
lamic background.
With attention distracted by
tensions between the governing
AK Party and the military over
the election of Abdullah Gul,
Turkey did too little to root out
corruption, modernize its judi¬
ciary, reduce the power of the
military and increase freedom of
expression.
The annual progress report,
compiled by the European Com¬
mission, is to be released next
week as a new committee pre¬
pares to examine the future ofthe
EU. The panel may try to deter¬
mine where Europe's frontiers
should lie and how much farther
the bloc should expand.
Public opinion across the EU is
hardening against Turkey's mem¬
bership bid and the French presi¬
dent, Nicolas Sarkozy, leads a
group of countries opposed to
full EU membership for Turkey,
preferring a looser association
with Ankara instead.
Sarkozy proposed the creation
of the new committee, which is
scheduled to be approved by EU
heads of government next month.
Turkey fears the panel will kill
off their membership bid.
To limit the damage to Turkish
accession hopes, a draft of the
commission's annual report
stresses Turkey's strategic impor¬
tance as a "unique interface be¬
tween the West and the Muslim
world," a diplomatic and military
partner and an energy hub.
But it also makes clear that the imple¬
mentation of reforms was "uneven" and
"has slowed down since 2005." The
number of people prosecuted for free¬
dom of expression doubled from 2005 to
2006, corruption remains rife and Tur¬
key was found to be in breach of the
European Convention on Human
Rights in 330 cases.
This year the military, one ofthe cen¬
tral pillars of the secular Turkish state,
spoke out against Gul's candidacy for
president. "The crisis prompted parlia
mentary elections that returned the AK
Party to power, allowing Gul whose
wife wears a head scarf to win the
presidency through a parliamentary
vote. Although the military "made
statements beyond its remit," parlia¬
mentary elections were conducted
properly, the draft report sâys.
"Turkey now needs to renew the mo¬
mentum of political reforms," the docu¬
ment says. It calls for significant further
efforts on freedom of expression, civil¬
ian control of the military, increased
rights for non-Muslims, the fight against
corruption and judicial reforms.
Charles Grant, director of the Center
for European Reform in London, said
the document comes at a difficult time
for Turkey. "A number of governments
that have been pro-Turkey are now
backpedaling or, like Denmark, keeping
their heads down and leaving it to Brit¬
ain, Sweden and the commission to ar¬
gue for Turkey," Grant said.
He added: "The best prospect for
Turkey at the moment is just to keep go¬
ing and hope that the climate in Europe ,
changes, which it might do."
Eight of the 35 "chapters" for negoti¬
ations with Turkey are now frozen be¬
cause of its refusal to open its ports to
ships from Cyprus. There were fears
that Sarkozy would block talks on all
other issues but France has hinted that
it will stop the opening ofonly four oth¬
er chapters.
The commission's study underlines
the amount of work needed to meet EU
membership requirements. Although
the document says that the outcome of
the spring crisis "reaffirmed the primacy
of the democratic process," it also notes
that the military took positions on issues
outside its remit. "Full civilian supervi¬
sion of the military and parliamentary
oversight of defense expenditures still
need to be established," the paper says.
The document adds that there has
been "little progress" in the fight
against corruption, which it describes
as "widespread."
The number of prosecutions of jour¬
nalists, intellectuals and human rights
activists for expressing nonviolent
opinions is on the rise.
The number of people prosecuted al¬
most doubled in 2006 from 2005 and
there were further increases in 2007.
More than half of the cases were
brought under the Turkish Penal Code
and many of those under article 301,
which makes it an offense to insult
"Turkishness." Together with the
murder of a Turkish-Armenian journa¬
list, Hrant Dink, the prosecutions have
helped create a climate of self-censor¬
ship, the draft document says. Dink was
killed in Istanbul on Jan. 19. His views
on the Ottoman Turkish massacres of
Armenians in the era of World War I
had angered Turkish nationalists.
The number of reported torture and
ill-treatment cases has declined, though
they still occur, especially before sus¬
pects are detained. Concerns remain
about the independence and impartial¬
ity of the judiciary, the report says.
From October 2006 to October 2007
the European Court of Human Rights
delivered 330 judgments finding that
Turkey had violated at least one article
of the European Convention on Human
Rights.
The draft takes an even-handed ap¬
proach on the Kurdish issue saying that
Turkey made "no progress in the area of
cultural rights." But it notes that the PKK
separatist group is on the EU's terrorist
list and talks of a "further deterioration
of the situation" in terms of attacks by
the PKK and other terrorist groups.
The final version of the document
may make a plea to Turkey to avoid dis¬
proportionate retaliation.
The report, which covers the whole
EU enlargement process, also says that
Croatia might be able to join the bloc by
the end of the decade if it speeds up the
reform of its judiciary and the fight
against corruption.
And it highlights concerns about the
Balkans, including organized crime,
ethnic tensions and corruption, arguing
that the measures being taken are inad¬
equate.