EP’S TURKEY REPORT RADICALLY ACCUSES TURKS
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 9 2006
The European Parliament (EP) late Monday approved a sharply critical
report on Turkey, calling on Ankara to recognize the Armenian genocide
claims before becoming a member of the European Union.
The report entitled "Turkey’s Progress Towards Accession," which
was prepared by the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs Rapporteur and
MEP Camiel Eurlings, was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee
with some amendments which made it harsher towards Turkey than
it had been. It also criticized a number of issues, including
Cyprus, a slowdown in the EU reform process, the situation in the
southeast, problems with religious minorities, cultural rights and
civilian-military relations.
The report, which was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee,
isn’t binding but plays a role in making recommendations for Turkey
and will be put to a vote by the EP’s full 732-member assembly during
Sept. 25-28 meetings.
Taking note of a Turkish proposal to set up a bilateral committee of
experts to deal with controversial past incidents and of Armenia’s
position on the proposal, the report urged the Turkish and Armenian
governments to continue their process of reconciliation leading to a
mutually acceptable proposal and asked Turkey to take the necessary
steps, without any preconditions, to establish diplomatic and good
neighborly relations with Armenia and open their land border as soon
as possible. Armenia does not recognise Turkey’s eastern borders and
Turkey keeps its territorial borders with Armenia closed since the
Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
The report also claimed that Turkey committed "genocide against the
Pontic Greeks and Assyrians."
Turkish experts argue that the genocide claims are added by the
Greek and Armenian lobbies to prevent Turkey’s EU process. Dr. Sedat
laciner from USAK, Ankara-centred Turkish think tank told the JTW
that there is no condition of recognition of any genocide claim:
"Turkey has fulfilled all main conditions for EU membership. That’s
why the anti-Turkish groups add new condition to stop the process".
Dr. Laciner also claims that the EP report is so biased and accuse
only the Turks:
"The Armenian claims are historical claims. The Armenians believe
in that the 1915 Relocation Campaign was a genocide. It means the EP
gives great importance to the events happened almost a century ago.
Yet the same EP mention nothing about the Armenian occupation in
Azerbaijani territories. Yerevan does not recognise the Kars Treaty.
According to Armenians the Eastern parts of Turkey is Western
Armenia. I mean EP should also see the Armenian irredentism.Similarly
the Pontus and Assyrian genocide claims are baseless and not serious."
EU rebukes Ankara on pace of reforms
In Eurlings’ report, EU lawmakers sharply criticized Turkey over its
‘slow pace’ of reforms and warned that failure to make progress on
the Cyprus dispute risks bringing entry negotiations to a halt.
Ankara Government does not accept the slow pace critics.
Turkey’s reservations about opening its airports and harbors to the
Greek Cypriots will have serious implications for the EU process and
could even bring it to a halt, warned the draft report, calling on
Turkey to take steps towards the recognition of the Greek Cypriot
administration during its accession process. It also raised the idea
of an early withdrawal of forces from the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC). It also called on the European Council to renew efforts
to implement trade regulations with Northern Cyprus.
The EU accepted only the Greek part of the Cyprus island as the
EU member.
Report urges progress in human rights
The toughly worded report also called on Ankara to take steps towards
making progress on freedom of expression and raised concerns about the
country’s treatment of religious minorities, the Kurdish population
and women.
Noting that certain progress has been made in women’s rights after
the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK) came into force last year,
the report however then stressed that a lack of respect for women’s
rights in Turkey remains a matter of serious concern.
The EP report also urged Ankara to take concrete steps to remove
obstacles facing Christian religious minorities related to, in
particular, their legal status, the training of clergy, and their
property rights, and called for an immediate stop to all seizures
and selling off of property belonging to religious communities by the
Turkish authorities and the immediate reopening of the Greek Orthodox
Halki seminary and public use of the "ecclesiastical title of the
‘ecumenical’ patriarch."
It also called for the protection and recognition of Alevis, including
the recognition of cemevis as religious centers, and for all religious
education to be voluntary and not cover just the Sunni branch of Islam.
Taking into consideration the amendment requests of MEPs Joost
Lagendijk and Cem Ozdemir, the report also called on Ankara to find
a solution to the headscarf ban in Turkish universities.
Solidarity with Turkey in fighting terror
The EP also condemned a resurgence of violence in the southeast by
the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and stressed that there
can never be an excuse for violence against Turkish citizens in any
part of the country. The report also expressed solidarity with Turkey
in fighting terrorism. The PKK is on the terrorist organizations list
of the EU and the US.
Turkish media however find the report unbalanced and radical. Many
Turkish newspapers blamed the report as ‘Armenian’ or ‘Greek-made
report’.
Dr. Mehmet Ozcan argued that the EP report should have been more
realistic to be taken consideration in Turkey. "The EU loses its
seriousness in the eyes of many Turkish people" Dr. Ozcan claimed.
Similarly Dr. Ihsan Bal says that the EU names all the political
problems regarding Turkey as ‘genocide’. He continued: "Armenian,
Greek, Assyrian, Kurdish, they name all of these issues as genocide.
What is the next, no one knows. According to the EP reports Turks are
the champion on genociding other peoples, but the reports never mention
Algerian genocide or many more genocide committed by the EU nations
in Europe and Asia. The report is not realistic and constructive. The
report undermines the Turkish people’s trust towards the EU".