EC REPORT PRAISES, CRITICISES TURKEY
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Nov 9 2006
One of the key requirements set by the EC is the opening of Turkish
ports and airports to Greek Cypriot trade.
Guncelleme: 21:14 TSİ 09 Kasim 2006 PerşembeBRUSSELS –
The European Commission’s report on Turkey’s progress in meeting the
requirements of the European Union’s membership criteria, released late
Wednesday, contains both praise and criticism, along with a threat.
While noting that Turkey had made some progress in certain areas,
notably regarding relations between military and civilian authorities,
the report also highlighted a number of deficiencies, especially in
the fields of human rights, freedom of expression and minority rights.
The report also called on Turkey to open its ports and airports
to trade from Greek Cyprus, setting a time limit of mid December,
when the EU is to hold its end of year summit. The report said that
Turkey is obliged to allow the free movement of goods from the ten
new members of the EU, including the Greek Cypriot administration,
under the Ankara Agreement.
"The EU will monitor whether or not Turkey fully implements this by
the end of 2006," the report said. Turkey has not fully implemented
the Additional Protocol to its customs union with the EU, and has
not opened its ports to Greek Cypriot ships.
"This limits free movement of goods and means violation of the Customs
Union agreement," the report said. The report also said that there are
communities which can be defined as a minorities in Turkey other than
Jews, Armenians and Greek Orthodox people, according to international
and European standards.
"Turkey’s position on minority rights has not changed," according to
the report. "According to Turkish authorities, minorities in Turkey are
defined by the Lausanne Treaty signed in 1923 as the Jews, Armenians
and Greek Orthodox people." Human rights violations in Turkey are
declining, the report noted, but there was still room for improvement.
While Turkey had made some advances in allowing broadcasts in mother
tongue languages other than Turkish, the EC said that freedom of
expression remained a concern, especially in regard to article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code, which covers the crime of insulting Turkish
identity.
The report said that Turkey has to amend Article 301 in order to be
more closely aligned to EU standards.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
