COUNCIL OF EUROPE SUPPORTS REFORMS BUT SAYS ‘NOT ENOUGH’
ABDULLAH BOZKUR

Today’s Zaman
April 27 2010
Turkey

The main European watchdog for democracy and human rights has expressed
support for constitutional reform in Turkey, currently being debated
in the Turkish Parliament, but said the reforms do not go far enough
to rid the country of the military constitution.

Responding to a question from Today’s Zaman at a press briefing on
Monday morning, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu, said the Council of
Europe welcomes the move by the Turkish government to change the
Constitution while reiterating an earlier call for judicial reform.

"I call on the Turkish Parliament to urgently adopt judicial reform
because Turkey is second in terms of the number of cases filed at the
European Court of Human Rights, a judicial organ of the Council of
Europe," he said, stressing that there is an absolute need for judicial
reform in Turkey. He also stressed that the current Constitution in
Turkey is a military creation and that Turkey ought to get a civilian
and democratic constitution. The Turkish Constitution was adopted in
1982 in the wake of a military coup and is subject to criticism from
many European institutions including the EU and the Council of Europe.

"It [the military constitution] is the main obstacle before reforms in
Turkey," he said, urging the Turkish government to officially apply to
the Venice Commission for an opinion on the constitutional amendments.

CavuÅ~_oglu is a Turkish deputy from Antalya, and he was not able to
attend the voting in the Turkish Parliament because of PACE proceedings
in Strasbourg. "I regret that I cannot participate in voting on the
reform package," he said.

As regards to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, CavuÅ~_oglu said PACE
is determined to solve frozen conflicts in the region, noting that
he will meet with delegations from both Azerbaijan and Armenia. "The
PACE subcommittee will discuss the issue, and I will chair it," he
said. As for the parliamentary elections scheduled for November in
Azerbaijan, he expressed hope that they will be even more democratic
than the previous elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress