EU ADOPTS CRITICAL REPORT ON ANKARA

People’s Daily Online, China
Sept 28 2006

The European Parliament warned Turkey yesterday it must speed up
far-reaching reforms if it wants to join the European Union.

EU lawmakers adopted a highly critical, non-binding report which
accused Ankara of failing to live up to promises it made to win the
green light from EU leaders to start talks last October on joining
the bloc.

"The European Parliament … regrets the slowing down of the reform
process," the report said.

It said Turkey had shown "insufficient progress" on freedom of
expression, religious and minority rights, women’s rights and the
rule of law since the start of accession talks.

It demanded Turkey fulfil its obligation to open its ports and airports
to EU member Cyprus under a customs agreement. Ankara has refused to
do so unless the EU fulfils a pledge to end the economic isolation
of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.

But parliament voted to delete a clause which would have sought
to make recognition by Ankara of the mass killing of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey as "genocide" a precondition for EU membership. The
clause had particularly angered Turkey.

However, parliament said it "reiterates its call on Turkey to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as called for in previous European
parliament resolutions."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference in
Istanbul that his government was "determined to work with the EU with
a constructive understanding" but would not accept any discrimination
or new criteria for membership.