MEPs put off key vote on Turkey protocol

EurActiv.com, Belgium
Sept 2 2005

In Short:

The political limbo enveloping Turkey’s EU bid continued on 1 September
when the European Parliament decided to postpone a key vote on Ankara’s
revised customs union with the EU.

In light of the MEPs’ decision to postpone the vote, originally
scheduled for next week, it is now up to the Commission and the
Council to find a solution to the Cyprus issue during the month of
September. The MEPs will now vote on the so-called Ankara protocol
during the EP’s session starting on 26 September. “Considering the
unilateral declaration by Turkey [on 29 July] that the extension of
the customs union to Cyprus would not amount to the recognition of
Cyprus under international law, this is the only logical consequence,”
commented German conservative MEP Elmar Brok, chairman of the EP’s
Foreign Affairs Committee. The EP’s vote is needed for the Ankara
protocol to take effect.

Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign ministers are working on a declaration on
the Cyprus issue at their meeting in Newport, Wales, and a compromise
formula is reportedly in the making there which could result in a
unanimous agreement among the EU-25 governments on the objectives
and principles of the pending talks with Turkey.

In a related development, a fresh row over freedom of speech is brewing
in Turkey as authorities are seeking to persecute the internationally
acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk for controversial comments on his
country’s killing of 30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians. Turkey is
sensitive over the issue of the Kurds and Armenians. Pamuk could face
up to three years in prison.