Zaman, Turkey
July 12 2006

Christian Democrats Delay Progress Report on Turkey
By Anadolu News Agency (AA), Zaman, Brussels
Published: Wednesday, July 12, 2006
zaman.com

The European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Commission has postponed
debates over a draft progress report on Turkey until September.

Dutch parliamentarian Camiel Eurlings, a member of the Christian
Democrat Party, said they did not have enough time to combine the
proposed amendments.

"The report should not be hastily debated. When the issue is Turkey,
it needs to be discussed in greater detail."

The Commission will discuss the report during a session in the first
week of September in Strasbourg before it is sent to the general
assembly.

The Christian Democrats have purportedly postponed the report in
order to negatively affect the contents of the report, while others
believe the report was delayed in order to ensure inclusion of the
recent positive developments in Turkey.

Speaking at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Commission,
representatives from political groups stressed that recently, positive
developments on the Cyprus issue should be included in the report.

There were also certain reforms regarding women and animal rights,
compulsory religious education and the mater of Alevis.

The same representatives recalled that the EU Commission’s Progress
Report on Turkey will also be debated in the fall, and highlighted
the importance of releasing both reports at the same time.

However, some EP sources suggested that the Christian Democrats
deliberately postponed the report in order to negatively influence
Report and to create a Cyprus crisis between Turkey and the EU.

The same sources reported that harsh exchanges have broken out between
political groups over the Armenian issue, which, is frequently raised
by the Christian Democrats, who remain hesitant about Turkey’s entry
into the EU.

The Christian Democrat group has been commissioning reports on Turkey
for years.

EU parliamentarians and political groups will not be able to make
motions for amendments to be included in the report.

However, developments will be included in Turkey’s report through
compromise motions upon Eurlings’ approval.

The draft report calls on Turkey to accelerate the implementation of
reforms in line with the reform process, focusing mainly on freedom of
speech, religious and minority rights, civilian-military relations,
women’s rights, trade unions, cultural rights and the autonomy of
the judiciary.

The report welcomes the 9th reform package prepared by the government
of the ruling Justice and Development Party, and asks Turkey to remove
any item from the Counterterrorism Act that restricts basic rights
and freedoms.

The report stated that government officials, military and security
personnel shouldn’t receive preferential treatment in the courts;
condemned the Kurdistan Workers’ Party terrorist network and conveyed
concerns over former Van Public Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya’s dismissal.

Furthermore, the report asked Turkey to lower the 10 percent electoral
threshold, recognize the Alevis as a religious minority and to open
Turkish ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.