EU REPORT CRITICIZES PACE OF REFORM IN TURKEY
By Stephen Castle

International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 1 2007

BRUSSELS: In a new blow to Turkey’s hopes of joining the European
Union, an annual report has concluded that reforms there slowed
in 2007 because of a constitutional crisis over the election of a
president with an Islamic background.

With attention distracted by tensions between the governing AK Party
and the military over the election of Abdullah Gul, Turkey did too
little to root out corruption, modernize its judiciary, reduce the
power of the military and increase freedom of expression.

The annual progress report compiled by the European Commission,
is to be released next week as a new committee prepares to examine
the future of the EU. The panel may try to determine where Europe’s
frontiers should lie and how much farther the bloc should expand.

Public opinion across the EU is hardening against Turkey’s membership
bid and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, leads a group of
countries opposed to full EU membership for Turkey, preferring a
looser association with Ankara instead.

Sarkozy proposed the creation of the new committee, which is scheduled
to be approved by EU heads of government next month. Turkey fears
the panel will kill off their membership bid.

Eager to limit the damage to Turkish accession hopes, a draft of the
commission’s annual report stresses Turkey’s strategic importance as a
"unique interface between the West and the Muslim world," a diplomatic
and military partner and an energy hub.

But it also makes clear that the implementation of reforms was "uneven"
and "has slowed down since 2005." The number of people prosecuted for
freedom of expression doubled from 2005 to 2006, corruption remains
rife and Turkey was found to be in breach of the European Convention
on Human Rights in 330 cases.

This year the military spoke out against Gul’s candidacy for president,
one of the central pillars of the secular Turkish state.

The crisis prompted parliamentary elections that returned the AK Party
to power, allowing Gul – whose wife wears a head scarf – to win the
presidency through a parliamentary vote. Although the military "made
statements beyond its remit," parliamentary elections were conducted
properly, the draft report says.

"Turkey now needs to renew the momentum of political reforms," the
document says. It calls for significant further efforts on freedom
of expression, civilian control of the military, increased rights
for non-Muslims, the fight against corruption and judicial reforms.

Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform in London,
said the document comes at a difficult time for Turkey. "A number
of governments that have been pro-Turkey are now backpedaling or,
like Denmark, keeping their heads down and leaving it to Britain,
Sweden and the commission to argue for Turkey" Grant said.

He added: "The best prospect for Turkey at the moment is just to keep
going and hope that the climate in Europe changes, which it might do."

Eight of the 35 "chapters" for negotiations with Turkey are now frozen
because of its refusal to open its ports to ships from Cyprus.

There were fears that Sarkozy would block talks on all other issues
but France has hinted that it will stop the opening of only four
other chapters.

The commission’s study underlines the amount of work needed to meet EU
membership requirements. Although the document says that the outcome of
the spring crisis "reaffirmed the primacy of the democratic process,"
it also notes that the military took positions on issues outside its
remit. "Full civilian supervision of the military and parliamentary
oversight of defense expenditures still need to be established,"
the paper says.

The document adds that there has been "little progress" in the fight
against corruption, which it describes as "widespread."

The number of prosecutions of journalists, intellectuals and human
rights activists for expressing nonviolent opinions is on the rise.

The number of people prosecuted almost doubled in 2006 from 2005 and
there were further increases in 2007.

More than half of the cases were brought under the Turkish Penal Code
and many of those under article 301, which makes it an offense to
insult "Turkishness." Together with the murder of a Turkish-Armenian
journalist, Hrant Dink, the prosecutions have helped create a climate
of self-censorship, the draft document says. Dink was killed in
Istanbul on Jan. 19. His views on the Ottoman Turkish massacres of
Armenians in the era of World War I had angered Turkish nationalists.

The number of reported torture and ill-treatment cases has declined,
though they still occur, especially before suspects are detained.

Concerns remain about the independence and impartiality of the
judiciary, the report says.

>From October 2006 to October 2007 the European Court of Human Rights
delivered 330 judgments finding that Turkey had violated at least
one article of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The draft takes an even-handed approach on the Kurdish issue saying
that Turkey made "no progress in the area of cultural rights." But
it notes that the PKK separatist group is on the EU’s terrorist list
and talks of a "further deterioration of the situation" in terms of
attacks by the PKK and other terrorist groups.

The final version of the document may make a plea to Turkey to avoid
disproportionate retaliation.

The report, which covers the whole EU enlargement process, also says
that Croatia might be able to join the bloc by the end of the decade
if it speeds up the reform of its judiciary and the fight against
corruption.

And it highlights concerns about the Balkans, including organized
crime, ethnic tensions and corruption, arguing that the measures
being taken are inadequate.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress