EUROPEANS CRITICIZE TURKEY OVER THREATS TO MEDIA FREEDOMS
STEPHEN CASTLE and SEBNEM ARSU

New York Times
October 14, 2009

BRUSSELS — European officials gave Turkey new warnings on Wednesday
over threats to freedom of expression in the country as part of an
annual progress report on its efforts to join the European Union.

Skip to next paragraph Related Times Topics: Turkey

The European enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, in particular
criticized the Turkish tax ministry’s recent move to impose a fine of
5.7 billion liras — roughly $3.9 billion — on the country’s biggest
media conglomerate, Dogan Yayin, whose affiliates and ownership have
been critical of the governing party. The government reiterated on
Wednesday that the issue was purely a tax matter, but Mr. Rehn argued
that it seemed politically motivated.

"If a tax fine is worth the annual turnover of the company," he said,
"it is quite a strong sanction, and it may not only be a fiscal
sanction but also it feels like a political sanction."

Mr. Rehn also criticized efforts to take legal action against
journalists and writers, including the Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk. And
the report listed Turkey’s refusal to open its ports to vessels from
Cyprus, a European government that Turkey does not recognize because
of a longstanding territorial dispute over the island, as a continuing
factor hurting Turkey’s efforts to join.

In general, the progress report, composed by the European Commission
and including assessments of seven Balkan nations also seeking to join
the European Union, did not close the door on Turkish membership. It
praised several developments over the past year, including government
efforts to end decades of hostilities with Armenia and open borders,
and to ease tensions with the Kurdish minority in Turkey.

The Turkish minister in charge of negotiations with Europe, Egemen
Bagis, called the reports a balanced document and said that the
detailed nature of the criticism was a good sign for Turkey.

"The precis oach in the comments show that Turkey has entered an
advanced phase in negotiations," he said. "It tells us to keep up
the good work, and continue with reforms, a message that we will be
following in future."

Still, the public criticism underlined the fragility of Turkey’s
efforts to join. France’s and Germany’s outspoken opposition to full
membership for Turkey have raised doubts both in Europe and within
Turkey itself that a deal can be reached any time soon.

Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy
Studies, an Istanbul-based research group, said that the European
Commission appeared to be putting a positive gloss on the talks to
try to keep the process alive.

"There has been a conscious effort on the part of the commission to
appear a bit more positive than the situation warrants," he said,
"in view of the fact that there is a lot of opposition in Europe
about Turkish accession."

Mr. Ulgen added that France’s opposition, in particular, has given
"the impression in Turkey that no matter what we do we will never
get to the E.U."

Stephen Castle reported from Brussels, and Sebnem Arsu from Bursa,
Turkey.