EU PRESSURES TURKEY ON FREE SPEECH AND CYPRUS
By Lucia Kubosova
EUobserver.com, Belgium
22.09.2006 – 09:56 CET
The European Commission has praised a Turkish court verdict clearing
a top novelist but repeated that Ankara’s laws limiting freedom of
expression should be scrapped altogether, with commission chief Jose
Manuel Barroso saying Brussels is "not encouraged" by the latest
signals from Ankara.
Elif Shafak, one of the best-selling Turkish authors, was declared
innocent by a court in Istanbul on Thursday (21 September) after
having been charged with insulting "Turkishness" over comments on
the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 made by characters in her novel.
A commission spokeswoman welcomed the judgement as "obviously good
news" but added that the legal restrictions which sparked the court
case "aren’t in line with EU rules on human rights and freedom of
expression."
She referred to article 301 of Turkey’s penal code which has
been criticised by Brussels a number of times and is likely to be
highlighted in a major report on Ankara’s progress in its EU accession
negotiations – scheduled for 8 November.
Following the court decision, the novelist herself said "I’m very
happy with the outcome but only on a personal basis. As long as 301
is out there and interpreted or misinterpreted like that there’ll be
many other cases like this," she told Reuters.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signalled that
the government would consider changing the controversial article,
suggesting "The ruling party and the opposition can sit down together
again to discuss this issue as laws are not eternal," according to
Anatolia news agency.
However, both Brussels and Ankara are less optimistic about the
resolution of another major problem – Turkey’s relations with EU
member state Cyprus – which could eventually cause a suspension of
its negotiations this autumn.
Mr Barroso told Euronews on Thursday "At the moment, we are not
particularly encouraged by the information which we are receiving."
"I think Turkey needs to understand that it has to comply with its
promises and obligations. Among them are the obligations of the
Ankara protocol: that is, guaranteeing the access of Cypriot ships
into Turkish ports, these are vessels of a member state."
Mr Barroso added the November report by his team evaluating the
country’s progress "will be honest, objective and rigorous."
According to the European Voice, EU diplomats are currently trying
hard to avoid a "train crash" at the end of this year – as mooted
by the enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn earlier this year due to
a looming impatience by Cyprus.
The Brussels-based weekly reported that the commission would in its
report identify a list of legislation chapters not linked to customs
union issues on which Ankara could keep negotiating despite missing
the December deadline for opening up to Cypriot vessels and planes.
While Cyprus is expected to oppose this solution, France – usually
a harsh critic of Turkey – could back it, according to a French
government spokesman.
"We support all efforts to avoid this ‘train crash’ and which permit
negotiations to go ahead on the basis of good faith," he said.