EU/TURKEY: OPPOSITION CHP ACCUSES ANKARA OF VIOLATING PRESS FREEDOM

European Report
September 24, 2008

Just a few weeks ahead of the scheduled publication of the European
Commission’s annual report on Turkey’s progress towards EU accession,
leading members of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) voiced, on 23 September, concern about the Ankara government’s
"anti-European approach towards freedom of speech and press in the
country".

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Onur Oymen and Sukru Elekdag,
the vice-presidents of the CHP and members of the EU-Turkey Joint
Parliamentary Committee, pointed to several cases where the freedom of
press has been recently violated by the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP). They especially criticised the AKP’s leader, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his fierce attack on the Dogan
Media Group newspapers, which he accused of conducting a campaign of
defamation against him and his party. The group has been reporting on a
charity fraud lawsuit in Germany against a Turkish Islamic foundation
named Deniz Feneri, which allegedly transferred some of its funds to
Erdogan’s government.

In view of Turkey’s EU accession talks, "we should upgrade our
democratic standards, relating in particular to freedom of speech and
press," Oymen said, openly criticising Erdogan for his attack on the
opposition media.

The annual report to be published by the Commission at the beginning
of November is expected to closely examine whether human rights,
such as freedom of speech and press, are respected in Turkey. The
criticism expressed by the CHP leaders is likely to add to the EU’s
disappointment with the Turkish government’s slow pace in implementing
reforms in these areas. Since the start of accession talks in October
2005, the EU has been refusing to open the chapter on judiciary and
fundamental rights for talks with Ankara.

The CHP leaders underlined, however, that their party strongly
supports Erdogan’s pro-European drive. "Accession to the EU is the
CHP’s main objective. We will support the government in its pro-EU
efforts," Elekdag said, dismissing claims about a lack of cross-party
consensus on EU membership in Turkey. "We have been supporting the
government very strongly in the past. Eight reform packages and three
constitutional amendments have been adopted with the support of the
CHP," Elekdag explained.

According to CHP leaders, the recent positive developments in Turkey’s
relations with Armenia will not ultimately lead to a resolution of the
frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan due to
an absence of a constructive attitude on the part of Russia. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with
Azerbaijan, a Turkic-speaking ally, and in protest against Armenia’s
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey and Armenia have both said that
they want to improve their relations and together with Azerbaijan solve
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. "Armenia occupies Nagorno-Karabakh with
the support of Russia. It is not in Russia’s interest to solve this
frozen conflict," Elekdag explained.