EU Criticizes Police, Says Turks Must Implement Laws
March 7 (Bloomberg) — The European Union condemned violence
yesterday by Turkish police against demonstrators in Istanbul and
urged the government to take steps to strengthen democracy and
respect for human rights as part of its bid to join the 25-member
bloc.
Police used pepper gas and batons against women and children and
arrested scores of people at a rally to mark International Women’s
Day. Turkey’s parliament last year passed laws strengthening rights
of peaceful assembly.
“We condemn all violence, and demonstrations have to be conducted in
a peaceful manner,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told a
news conference in Ankara. “I want to underline the need to properly
implement reforms. It’s very important to keep the reform process
going.”
Turkey is relying on membership talks with the EU, due to start on
Oct. 3, to help attract foreign investment and reduce the cost of
servicing its $250 billion debt. Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the head of
the European Commission in Turkey, last week said the government had
been slow to implement EU-backed laws since it won a date to start
membership talks three months ago.
Investigation
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul expressed his “sorrow” over
the violence and pledged a full investigation. Turkey must continue
to strengthen minority and women’s rights and bolster freedom of
expression, Rehn told reporters after meetings with Luxembourg
Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, U.K. Minister for Europe Denis
McShane and Turkish officials.
The U.S. and Britain say the EU must embrace a country that’s both
Muslim and democratic to help win the war on terror and encourage
democracy in the Middle East. Turkey, which became a candidate for EU
membership in 1999, borders countries including Iraq, Iran, Syria and
Armenia. It’s the only member of the North Atlantic treaty
Organization that’s 99 percent Muslim.
The EU will run a so-called “screening process” for Turkey’s
membership parallel with accession negotiations starting in October,
Rehn told reporters yesterday. Turkey should maintain zero tolerance
for torture and respect the rights of non-Muslims to help its case
for membership, he said.
Framework
The European Union will publish a framework for the negotiations with
Turkey by the end of June, Rehn said. The document outlines the
political and economic steps the nation must take before it can join
the 25-nation EU.
“The government perhaps has been too busy with other domestic and
political issues,” said Volkan Kurt, an economist at Finans Yatirim
Securities in Istanbul. “The problem of course has been on the
implementation side. The government needs more time for
implementation of the reforms.”
One area where the government needs to improve the enforcement of its
“zero-tolerance” of torture is in them mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey, Yusuf Alatas, head of the country’ Human Rights Association,
said in an interview on March 3.
The government must also tackle problems with freedom of expression
that have resulted in several court cases against the media in the
past year, the EU’s Kretschmer said last week.
French Opposition
Turkey shouldn’t be allowed to join the EU because its culture and
history aren’t sufficiently European, say some EU politicians,
including Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of French President Jacques
Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement Party. Chirac last year said
the talks may take 15 years to complete.
By 2025, Turkey would swallow up EU farm and regional subsidies equal
to about 0.17 percent of annual European economic output, or about
$20 billion in today’s terms, the European Commission said in a
report published in October. France, the biggest beneficiary of the
EU’s $47 billion budget for agriculture, gets $9 billion in farm aid.
The EU’s political leaders agreed at a summit on Dec. 17 to start the
negotiations with Turkey after the government took steps to curb the
political influence of the military and improve the rights of the
nation’s 12 million Kurds.
Today’s meetings increased chances that Turkey would sign in the
coming weeks a protocol to extend its free trade agreement with the
EU to include Cyprus, Asselborn said. Such a step might pave the way
for EU aid to Turkish Cyprus and direct trade with the north of the
Island. Turkey must approve the accord before it can start the
accession process.
The Turkish government has said that widening the protocol won’t mean
recognition of the Greek Cypriot south, which joined the EU in May.
The Island has been divided since 1974, after Turkish forced invaded
in response to a brief coup by Greek Cypriots.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Bentley in Ankara at [email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Catherine Hickley in Berlin at [email protected].