EU ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER ISSUES WARNING TO TURKEY OVER RIGHTS
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 4, 2006 Wednesday 4:16 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Turkey Diplomacy EU EU enlargement commissioner issues
warning to Turkey over rights Ankara The European Union’s enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn on Wednesday issued a stern warning to the
Turkish government to up the pace of human rights reform or risk
derailing Turkey’s bid to join the union.
Rehn called on the government to scrap or amend the notorious Article
301 of the penal code that has been used to prosecute journalists
and writers on vague charges of "insulting Turkishness."
He also urged Ankara to implement proper civilian control over the
military and to open its ports to EU member Cyprus.
"We are facing a rough ride in the coming months," Rehn told reporters
after meetings with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. "Clearly this reform process needs to
be pursued and strengthened," Rehn said.
Rein’s visit, on the first anniversary of the EU officially opening
membership talks with Turkey, comes as public support for the
bid to join the union has fallen to around 50 per cent, down from
over 80 per cent in just a few years.
Turks are upset at what it sees as double standards from EU countries
over both freedom of speech issues and the Cyprus problem.
Recent moves in France to make it a crime to deny that genocide
was committed on Armenians during World War I, a charge that Turkey
vehemently denies, have led to accusations that while the EU demands
human rights reforms from Turkey, certain countries are in fact
restricting freedom of speech.
The Turkish government is also refusing to lift its ban on extending
an existing customs union with the EU to Cyprus, saying that first
restrictions and sanctions on the self-declared Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus must be lifted.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
