Last week, during the Parliamentary session that was held in Strasbourg, the delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee adopted the committee’s progress report on Turkey. The report follows the progress of reform that is being made by the Eurasian country in its bid to join the European Union.
As a member of the EPP-ED Committee of Foreign Affairs and of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, I am following the process with keen interest, especially when one considers that Turkey is another state that lies in the Mediterranean basin.
The state that is situated on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, started full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member since 1963, and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995.
The delay in negotiations is mostly due to the lack of evident reform where human rights are concerned. Although Turkey is a democratic state, the Turkish military has traditionally held a powerful position in domestic Turkish politics, considering itself the guardian of Turkey’s secular democracy.
The military on various occasions within the last decades removed elected governments by force when it was alleged that they were not following the principles of the state as established by Atatürk and enshrined in the constitution. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an army officer, revolutionary political leader, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President.
Prime Minister Erdogan last year committed himself to work on the reform throughout 2008. The year 2007 was a year in which the interference in the political process by the military was prevailed over by democracy. However, the Turkish government must fulfil its promises and speed up the reform process without any further delays. The impediments towards reform will only hinder Turkey’s pace of negotiations.
Turkish negotiations have been hampered by its refusal to trade freely with EU member Cyprus. Moreover, another EU bidder, Croatia has been carrying out reforms at a much faster pace.
Another growing concern for the European Union is the role of the judiciary and the military. Cases such as the closure of the AK Party and other reports concerning the lack of European standards and the Venice Commission guidelines by the Turkish Constitutional Court are worrying. The amendment of Article 301, as well as other articles, of the Penal Code is considered by the report as being a first step towards the article’s fundamental reform. Moreover, the report thus urges the government and parliament to carry out the reform as soon as possible as delays will cause these articles to be used for arbitrary restriction of freedom of expression.
Another worrying factor regarding Turkey that concerns both the European Union and the international community is the Kurdish question. About half of all Kurds live in Turkey. They account for 20 per cent of the 70 million people of Turkey, thus numbering about 15 million people. They are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country.
The report insisted on the launching of a political initiative, by the Turkish government, favouring a lasting settlement of the Kurdish issue. The political initiative should include a comprehensive master plan to boost the socio-economic and cultural development of the southeast of Turkey. The document also called for real possibilities for Kurdish to be introduced within both the public and private schooling systems. Moreover, the report called for the use of Kurdish in broadcasting, public life as well as in the public services.
The report also emphasises the importance that political parties, Members of Parliament and their representatives should disassociate themselves from underground-armed groups such as the PKK. It also requested the PKK to declare and respect an immediate cease-fire.
The committee also highlighted the importance of gender equality especially in the light of the drafting of a new constitution, on gender issues. The importance and the role of women is society must be recognised and their rights must be recognised and respected.
Various violations of women’s rights (such as virginity tests for women entering university) have been phased out, but many remain. Often the situation “on the ground” (particularly in rural areas) does not reflect that which is prescribed by law.
I encourage the Turkish government to ensure that the democratically elected political leadership bears full responsibility for formulation of domestic, foreign and security policy and thus to make further systematic efforts towards reform. However, if these reforms are not implemented in a suitable manner, negotiations cannot be carried forward.
All European Union member states must reach the requested criteria to join with no exceptions. The respect of human rights is one of the main pillars of the European Union values. No exceptions can be made!
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP
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www.davidcasa.eu