From: "Katia M. Peltekian" <[email protected]>
Subject: ANKARA: EU paints mixed picture
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Nov 9 2006
EU paints mixed picture
The New Anatolian / Ankara
The European Commission yesterday released its progress report on
Turkey, covering the progress that has made in Turkey since the
beginning of membership talks in October 2005 and including
criticisms in various areas.
While evaluating the overall progress in Turkey, the country’s place
in fulfilling European Union membership criteria and efforts to
harmonize its laws with that of the bloc, the Commission in its
80-page document urged Ankara to take constructive steps on minority,
women’s and union’s rights, civilian-military relations, the election
system, broadcasting and publication in different languages and
especially in amending controversial Article 301 of the new Turkish
Penal Code.
Though criticizing the slow progress of reforms on the key issue of
Cyprus, the EU didn’t include in the report a suggestion to suspend
talks with Turkey if the country fails to implement the Ankara
Protocol, thereby throwing the ball of making a final decision on
continuing talks with Turkey to the leaders’ summit next month and
paving the way for the continuation of talks on the Finnish
proposals.
"Under the negotiating framework and the Accession Partnership," said
the report, "Turkey is expected to ensure continued support for
efforts to find a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem
within the United Nations framework and in line with the principles
on which the Union is founded, whilst contributing to a better
climate for a comprehensive settlement, implement fully the protocol
adapting the Ankara Agreement to the accession of the 10 new EU
member states including (Greek) Cyprus and take concrete steps for
normalization of bilateral relations with all Member States,
including the (Greek) Republic of Cyprus." The report asked Turkey to
remove all obstacles to the free movement of goods, including
restrictions on means of transport, but without mentioning a possible
suspension of talks if Turkey fails to fulfill the requirements.
The report stated, however, that Turkey’s fulfillment of the
responsibilities will affect the negotiations and should it fail to
do so, the Commission will make recommendations on the issue next
month.
The declaration also stressed that recognition of all member states
is a necessary component of the accession process and underlined the
importance it attaches to the normalization of relations between
Turkey and all EU member states, making direct reference to Greek
Cyprus.
Fine-tuned criticism of military
The European Commission made a carefully worded criticism of the
military’s role in politics in its key report published yesterday,
staying clear of heated domestic debate about secularism but saying
that more time is needed for stronger alignment of civil-military
relations with EU practices.
"Overall, limited progress has been made in aligning civil-military
relations with EU practices," said the chapter on civil-military
relations. "Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have continued to exercise
significant political influence. Senior members of the armed forces
have expressed their opinion on domestic and foreign policy issues
including Cyprus, secularism, the Kurdish issue and on the indictment
concerning the (November 2005) Semdinli bombing."
On the Semdinli affair, when a bookstore in the southeastern town
left two dead, raising tension over claims TSK officials were
involved in the bombing, the EU was expected to make a stronger
criticism of the military. Some of the ruling Justice and Development
(AK) Party members accused then land forces commander and current
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit of having links with the
alleged bombers.
But contrary to many expectations, the report did not mention the
issue in detail. The report also did not make strong criticisms of
the recently increase in statements by top military officials in
defense of Turkey’s principle of secularism and criticizing the
ruling AK Party for not taking the rising Islamic fundamentalism
threat seriously.
Concerning the chapter on civil-military relations in the report,
European diplomats told The New Anatolian that the recently heated
debate in Turkish politics was mainly perceived as an internal debate
ahead of next year’s key presidential election and the EU did not
want to interfere in that. Diplomats also said that more time was
needed in Turkey’s democratization process to come to a point where
civil-military relations were be better aligned with EU practices.
The Commission report raised some other concerns on the issue of
civil-military relations, such as the lack of a parliamentary vote on
Turkey’s National Security Policy Document and the TSK Internal
Service Law remaining unchanged, giving the military wide space to
maneuver in domestic politics. It also underlined the need for
measures to enhance civilian control over the Gendarmerie,
strengthening parliamentary oversight of the military budget and
expenditures.
The report welcomed a law this June amending the relevant provisions
of the Military Criminal Code to assure that no civilian will be
tried in military courts in peacetime unless military personnel and
civilians commit an offense together.
The commission’s report concluded that there was not "back tracking"
but "a limited progress" in this year concerning alignment of
military relations with EU practices, and made the following
suggestion for the TSK:
"Statements by the military should only concern military, defense and
security matters and should only be made under the authority of the
government, while the civilian authorities should fully exercise
their supervisory functions in particular as regards the formulation
of the national security strategy and its implementation including
with regard to relations with neighboring countries."
Stating that the positive statement of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in 2005 stressing the need to resolve through domestic means
what he called "the Kurdish issue" was not followed up, the EU said
in the report that there is almost no dialogue between the
authorities and locally elected politicians and furthermore, many
locally elected politicians face court challenges.
EU calls for concrete steps on minority rights
Turkey has made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and
promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with
international standards, the EU said in the progress report, urging
Ankara to take concrete and constructive steps in the issue.
In the key report on Turkey, freedom of religion, minority rights and
their protection were highlighted as the main areas of concern.
On the issue of freedom of religion, according to the progress
report, although freedom of worship continues to be generally
respected, no progress was reported on difficulties encountered by
non-Muslim religious communities.
Stressing that restrictions on the training of clergy and on foreign
clergy working in Turkey remain, the report said, "Turkish
legislation does not provide private higher religious education for
these communities," and therefore urged the reopening of the Greek
Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) seminary and the recognition of the
"ecumenical" status of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch.
There have been no developments made in relation to the situation of
the Alevis and they face difficulties opening their places of worship
(cemevis), said the report, urging Ankara to recognize cemevis and
give funding to them. Furthermore, the Union criticized the
compulsory religious instruction given to Alevi children in schools.
Another area of concern in the progress report is that although the
mandatory indication of religious affiliation on some personal
documents such as ID cards was abolished in April, such documents
still include information on religion, which according to the EU
leaves open the potential of discriminatory practices.
Furthermore on freedom of religion, Brussels called on Turkey to give
access to legal incorporation to non-Muslin religious minorities and
abolish their restricted property rights.
Touching on the problems of the Greek minority, the report stated
that they continue to encounter problems, particularly related to
education and property rights. "The Greek minority properties on the
island of Gokceada (Imvros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) are under the
threat of confiscation and tender by the Turkish authorities," it
said.
Call for more Kurdish language broadcasting, education
On the issue of cultural rights of Kurds, the EU called on Turkey to
do more to ensure more broadcasting and education in the Kurdish
language.
Stressing that permission was granted to two local TV channels in
Diyarbakir and to one radio in Sanliurfa to broadcast in Kurdish, the
Union expressed criticism on the time restrictions, the presence of
subtitles or translations in Turkish and the absence of educational
programs teaching the Kurdish language. Stating that the Turkish
Television and Radio Corporation (TRT) has continued broadcasting in
five languages including Kurdish, the Union expressed concern over
the limited duration and scope of TRT’s broadcasts, adding that no
private broadcaster at the national level has applied to broadcast in
languages other than Turkish since the enactment of the 2004
legislation.
The Union also urged Ankara to do more in education in Kurdish,
saying, "Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot learn
their mother tongue in the Turkish public schooling system. As
concerns Kurdish all private courses were also closed down in 2004.
Therefore, there are no possibilities to learn Kurdish today in the
public or private schooling system. Furthermore, there are no
measures taken to facilitate access to public services for those who
do not speak Turkish."
Touching on the overall record of Turkey in the minority rights, the
EU described it as "unchanged" and urged Ankara to determine other
minorities in Turkey besides the Jews, Armenians and Greeks who were
given the status of minorities with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
"The February 2005 visit of the OSCE High Commissioner on National
Minorities (HCNM) to Ankara has not been followed up and no progress
has been made in starting a dialogue on the situation of national
minorities in Turkey," said the report, urging Ankara to include
relevant areas such as minority education, languages, the
participation of minorities in the public life and broadcasting in
minority languages to facilitate Turkey’s further alignment with
international standards and best practice in EU member states to
ensure cultural diversity and to promote respect for and protection
of minorities.
———Ara Baslik———
Need to change Article 301
Brussels also pressed for changes to Article 301 of the new Turkish
Penal Code (TCK), saying that it needed to be brought into line with
the relevant European standards.
"Some progress can be reported in the area of broadcasts in languages
other than Turkish at local and regional level," said the report.
"However, the prosecutions and convictions for the expression of
nonviolent opinion under certain provisions of the new penal code are
a cause for serious concern and may contribute to create a climate of
self-censorship in the country. This is particularly the case for
Article 301 which penalties insulting Turkishness, the republic as
well as the organs and institutions of the state. Although this
article includes a provision that expression of thought intended to
criticize should not constitute a crime, it has repeatedly been used
to prosecute non violent opinions expressed by journalists, writers,
publishers, academics and human rights activists."
‘Parliamentary immunity should be ended to fight corruption’
The European Union also urged Turkey to abolish parliamentary
immunity to better fight corruption within the country in the report.
According to the report, although there has been some limited
progress in the fight against corruption, notably on increasing
transparency in the public administration, overall corruption remains
widespread and anti-corruption authorities and policies are still
weak.
Besides the need to abolish parliamentary immunity to better fight
corruption within the country, according to the EU, Turkey also needs
to improve its legislation on financing and auditing of political
parties.
"With regard to corruption investigations carried out by the
inspection boards, the need for a prior authorization from the
hierarchy when investigating some categories of public officials
hampers the investigation," the report said, underlining the need for
better coordination of the system currently in place for combating
corruption. In line with this conclusion reached by the EU, the
25-nation bloc called on Ankara to establish a sufficient independent
body that will be responsible for the conception and monitoring the
implementation of anti-corruption measures.
Report gives Ocalan, Papadopoulos more than their due
In terminology all but guaranteed to raise hackles in Turkey, the
report refers to terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader
Abdullah Ocalan as "Mr.Ocalan" and calls the Greek Cypriot leader
"President Papadopoulos."
The EU’s use of "Mr. Ocalan" despite the PKK’s recognition by the
Union as a terrorist group, is likely to cause anger in Turkey, a
country which seeks support from its allies in its efforts to fight
the terrorist group.
Besides the respectful title for a terrorist, the Union also calls
Greek Cypriot administration leader Tassos Papadopoulos "President
Papadopoulos," another point that could anger Turkey since the
country doesn’t recognize Greek Cyprus.
Highlights:
Civil and political rights:
– The Turkish legal framework includes a comprehensive set of
safeguards against torture and ill-treatment. Cases of torture and
ill-treatment declined over the reporting period. However, concerns
remain regarding cases outside centers, human rights violations in
the southeast and the problem of impunity.
Women’s rights:
– There has been growing public attention on the issue of women’s
rights in Turkey. However, full respect of women’s rights remains a
critical problem, particularly in the poorest areas of country. While
the legal framework is overall satisfactory, its implementation
remains inadequate.
– In parts of the southeast it still occurs that girls are not
registered at birth. This hampers the fight against forced marriage
and crimes in the name of honor since these girls and women cannot be
properly traced.
Children’s rights:
– The right to education for children, particularly girls remains a
problem in some areas.
– In late 2005, ill-treatment of children in an orphanage of the
Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHCEK) in Malatya
revealed the shortcomings of the child protection system in Turkey.
Trade unions:
– The government submitted to social partners two legislative
proposals aimed at amending the two currently applicable laws in this
area. However, no further progress was made and no formal legislative
initiative has been taken by the government.
– As a result, the current significant shortcomings on the right to
organize and the right to collective bargaining, including the right
to strike, remain in place.
EU urges Ankara to rethink stance on Hamas
Describing Hamas as a "terrorist group," the report indirectly
criticized the AK Party receiving Hamas officials in Ankara early
this year following the Palestinian elections.
According to the progress report, although the Union stated that
"Turkey has broadly continued to align its foreign and security
policy with that of the EU?and has continued to support the Middle
East peace process," it continued by saying, "Turkey declared in
February 2006 to share the objectives EU Common Position on the
application of specific measures to combat terrorism and ensure that
its national policies would conform to that Common Position. Hamas is
on the list included in this Common Position."
On other issues in the chapter about foreign, security and defense
policy, while the Union praised Turkey’s participation in the EU-led
police missions including Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM), former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (Proxima) and in Congo (EUROPOL KINSHASA) and
UN and NATO peace missions for the development of European Security
and Defense Policy (ESDP), it criticized Turkey’s resistance to
including Greek Cyprus and Malta in the EU-NATO strategic cooperation
based on the "Berlin Plus" agreement. The report also noted that
Turkey continues, for political reasons, to block Greek Cyprus’
membership in certain suppliers’ groups, such as the Wassenaar
Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use
Goods and Technologies.
Touching on Turkey’s relations with the Middle East, while the report
said that Turkey’s relations with Syria continued to develop
positively, it also praised Ankara’s efforts and concrete initiatives
to promote stability in Iraq by facilitating dialogue between U.S.
authorities and Sunni Arabs. "Turkey argues that there is a direct
link between the recent escalation of violence in the southeast of
Turkey and increased clashes between Turkish Armed Forces and the PKK
and ‘infiltration of PKK members’ from the Iraqi border," it said in
the report, saying that a significant number of troops were deployed
along the Iraqi border in order to prevent infiltration by PKK
terrorists from northern Iraq.
The report also praised Turkish efforts to encourage Iran to comply
with the demands of the international community and the country’s
support to EU efforts to obtain long-term guarantees for the
implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its
Nuclear Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) by Iran.
The continued strong support of Turkey for the "Bonn process"
concerning the reconstruction of Afghanistan was also praised in the
report.
Call for opening Turkey’s border with Armenia
The Union, in the chapter on foreign policy, urged Turkey to open its
border with Armenia, stressing that this would be an important step
forward in the establishment of good neighborly relations between the
two countries and would boost trade relations.
While urging Turkey to open its border with Armenia, the EU cited the
lack of significant developments in relations between Turkey and
Armenia since the official exchange of letters between Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian
in April 2005.
However, the EU noted a closer alignment of Turkey’s official
position with EU positions in relation with the Southern Caucasus and
Central Asia. "Turkey has reiterated its support for the European
Neighborhood Policy. Turkey participates in the regional initiative
GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) with observer status.
Turkey followed closely the elections in Azerbaijan. It aligned
itself with the EU Presidency statement on the elections in
Azerbaijan on 10 November 2005," the report said.
Brussels indirectly urges removal of ‘casus belli’ resolution
In the progress report, the Union indirectly called on the Turkish
Parliament to abandon a 1995 resolution on casus belli (cause for
war) in relation to the possible extension of Greek territorial
waters.
In the text, the Commission alluded to the "casus belli" while urging
Ankara to commit to good neighborly relations through "addressing any
sources of friction with its neighbors and refrain from any action
which could negatively affect the process of peaceful settlement of
border disputes."
Reviewing the development of relations and confidence building steps
taken by Turkey and Greece, the EU progress report also noted that
measures to prevent the escalation of tension on the Aegean Sea were
taken "following the collision of Turkish and Greek military air
crafts over the Aegean in May, which caused the death of a Greek
pilot."