MEPS BACK ARMENIA GENOCIDE CLAUSE IN TURKEY REPORT
By Lucia Kubosova

EUobserver.com, Belgium
Sept 5 2006

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG – Turkey should recognize the Armenian
genocide as a condition for its EU accession, MEPs argue in a highly
critical report adopted by a broad majority in Strasbourg on Monday
(4 September).

The parliamentarians in the foreign affairs committee strongly
criticised Turkey’s slow pace on reforms and urged clear progress in
solving the Cyprus issue.

They stressed that the next step in the country’s membership talks
"will have to depend" on its pre-accession talks committments
"including a comprehensive settlement of border disputes and a
comprehensive settlement regarding Cyprus."

The report by Dutch centre-right MEP Camiel Eurlings sparked a huge
discussion in the prominent committee with over 300 amendments filed,
but deputies from the biggest groups reached a compromise with a
slightly less strict wording on several issues ahead of yesterday’s
vote.

The re-drafted document – to be voted on in plenary three weeks from
now – highlighted some positive aspects of Turkey’s performance en
route to the EU – such as opening the first chapter of EU legislation,
introducing new laws to fight corruption and broadcasting in Kurdish.

However, it insisted on "persistent shortcomings" in sensitive areas
such as freedom of expression, religious, minority and women’s rights
as well as civil-military relations.

"We could see a clear delay of reforms in Turkey which was reflected
in the report – I hope the Turkish authorities will now take our
message on board," Mr Eurlings told EUobserver after the vote.

"We wouldn’t help the country by hiding the truth," he added.

Some deputies expressed their concerns over the impact of the strong
language in the parliament’s annual evaluation – ahead of the European
Commission’s report on Ankara due on 24 October.

"Being a hero in Strasbourg is easy but will this report as it is
written actually help Turkey’s real reformers? No, it will make their
life and work harder," argued German Green deputy Cem Ozdemir.

Armenia divisive Dutch Socialist member Jan Marinus Wiersma commented
that a compromise text backed by the committee "is more positive than
the original proposal, but I’m afraid that the call for recognition
of genocide of Armenians will attract the most attention in Turkey."

"This issue has so far not been specified as one of the formal criteria
so to suggest that it is a ‘prerequisite’ for Turkey’s accession is
bound to spark controversy," he added.

British liberal deputy Andrew Duff also criticised the suggestion –
filed by the Belgian socialist MEP Veronique de Keyser – as "very bad,
uniting the far right and far left forces in the parliament."

He also pointed out that the parliament’s foreign affairs committee
should have expressed "greater appreciation of Turkey’s contribution
to the foreign policy and security initiatives that the EU is also
involved in."

Turkey’s parliament is set to vote on Tuesday on the government’s
proposal to send troops to Lebanon as part of the UN peace-keeping
force, with prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging deputies to
join European countries in the mission.