EUROPEAN COMMISSION RELEASES TURKEY’S PROGRESS REPORT
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Nov 9 2006
BRUSSELS – The European Commission argued that there are communities
which can be defined as a minority in Turkey other than Jews,
Armenians and Greek Orthodox people, according to international and
European standards.
The European Commission released today the report on the progress
made by Turkey on the road to EU membership.
On the minority rights, the Commission said, "Turkey’s position on
minority rights has not changed. According to Turkish authorities,
minorities in Turkey are defined by the Lausanne Treaty signed in
1923 as the Jews, Armenians and Greek Orthodox people ."
Referring to the lawsuits filed against Turkey in the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding human and minority rights, the
Commission’s report drew attention to the fact that Turkey adhered to
some international conventions on human rights in the last one year,
and asked Turkey to improve human rights and the related institutions.
The report noted that cases regarding torture and mal-treatment are
declining, but emphasized necessity of improving forensic medicine
practices.
-FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION-
On the other hand, the Commission stated that Turkey made some progress
in broadcasting in local languages and dialects.
Pointing out that the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK)
constitutes an obstacle before the freedom of expression, the report
said that the Supreme Court of Turkey ratified the punishment of
journalist Hrant Dink.
The progress report noted that Turkey has to amend Article 301 to get
closer to EU standards, and expressed concern over the newly-enacted
Anti-Terror Law.
Under the religious freedoms chapter, the Commission complained that
the seminary in Heybeliada is still closed and the religious minorities
are restricted from raising clergymen. Also noting that the rights
of religious foundations to acquire properties are restricted, the
report claimed that the Directorate General of Religious Affairs is
"assuming a hostile approach" to the missionary works.
Referring to the Alawites, the Commission’s report said that there
are problems in opening their places of worship, and these places
are not suppoted by state funds.
On the other hand, the report referred to some other topics like
violence in the family, honor killings, not letting girls to go to
school, insufficient participation of women in politics, and gender
equality. However, it said that Turkish people are getting more and
more conscious about women’s rights.
On union rights, the Commission argued that Turkey made no progress
in the last one year.
-EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA-
The report recalled that Turkey allowed two local channels to broadcast
in Kurdish within the scope of cultural rights, but criticized the
time limitation in this regard. It said that children, whose mother
tongue is not Turkish, cannot learn their mother tongue in schools.
Recalling that victims of terrorist attacks have been compensated, the
progress report said, "the PKK, which is in the list of EU terrorist
organizations, staged 774 attacks between November 2005 and June 2006
and 44 soldiers, five police officers and 13 civilians lost their
lives in these attacks."
The report also referred to some measures taken by Turkey and Greece
to prevent recurrence of some incidents over the Aegean like the recent
"dog fight" which resulted in death of a Greek pilot.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
