TURKEY HAS LESS THAN TWO YEARS LEFT TO MEET EU’s POLITICAL ACCESSION
CRITERIA
BRUSSELS, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Noting the slowing
pace of reform in Turkey, the European Parliament has called upon the
Turkish government to take immediate steps to ends its discriminatory
and repressive policies, the European Armenian Federation for Justice
and Democracy reported.
In its recently adopted resolution on the “Commission’s 2005
Enlargement Strategy Report,” the Parliament also called on the
European Commission to define the geographical boundaries of the
European Union.
In the section of the report dedicated to Turkey, the European
Parliament states that the priorities outlined in the Accession
Partnership […] have to be accomplished in the first phase of the
negotiations” and “notes with satisfaction that the Commission now
supports this view as well by stating that those criteria have to
be fulfilled within one or two years.”
Based on these considerations, the Parliament therefore called upon
Turkey “to present as soon as possible a plan, including a timetable
and specific measures, to meet these deadlines,” and urged the
Commission and the Council “to make the progress of the negotiations
conditional on the timely accomplishment of those priorities.”
This demand comes in reaction to the slowing down of Turkey’s reforms,
which were noted in the resolution. The Parliament also formally
asked Turkey “to remove all existing legislative and practical
obstacles to full enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms by all
Turkish citizens, notably freedom of expression, religious freedom,
cultural rights, rights of minorities.” The Resolution also urged
the Commission “to conduct a rigorous and thorough scrutiny of
developments on the ground.”
The adopted text – for the first time in European Union history – also
recalled that “the capacity for absorption of the Union […] remains
one of the conditions for the accession of new countries” and
stressed that “defining the nature of the European Union, including
its geographical borders, is fundamental to understanding the concept
of absorption capacity.”
Thus, the Parliament requested that that Commission ” submit a report
by 31st December 2006 setting out the principles which underpin this
concept” and invites it “to factor this element into the overall
negotiation timetable.”
“We welcome the adoption of this resolution as a true expression
of the growing will of the European Parliament to be involved in
the Union’s decision-making processes. This measure – like the many
previously adopted resolutions on this matter – urges the European
Commission and Council to not be satisfied with pledges and prolonged
delays, but rather to demand genuine reforms in Turkey,” said Hilda
Tchoboian, Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.
“We are working with European democratic movements in order to
require that Turkey meet its criteria within the next two years –
including its full recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the
abandonment of its aggressive policies toward Armenia.”