EU urges more reform, warns on election talk
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 25, 2008 00:00
ANKARA - Two European Union delegations from Brussels come to Ankara with severe warnings to the government to return to the European Union reform agenda, while Ankara is caught up in domestic issues dominated by pre-election debates. The Kurdish issue and the tension in southeastern Anatolia is debated as well, along with the reform agendav
While Ankara is caught up in domestic issues dominated by pre-election debates, two delegations from Brussels came to Turkey with severe warnings to the government to return to the European Union reform agenda.
A delegation from the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament, or EP, headed by Vice President Hannes Swoboda held talks at Parliament yesterday. Meanwhile, the head of the Turkey unit at the European Commission, Jean-Christophe Filori, attended a separate meeting of a sub-committee for industry and trade.
Swoboda exchanged views on the Kurdish issue and on tension in the Southeast during his meeting with Mehmet Ceylan, vice-president of the Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. Although Ceylan said Turkey does not have a Kurdish issue, as such, but a terrorism issue, Swoboda said the issue is not merely about terrorism or underdevelopment of the region. "If the problem was only social and economic, the government would not have taken cultural steps like (those concerning) Kurdish broadcasting."
Kurdish issue and terrorism
Swoboda said, "We have always told the representatives of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, to draw a clear line between the Kurdish issue and terrorism, and to distance themselves from Öcalan," adding they hoped the Constitutional Court would not ban the DTP. Meanwhile, Ceylan spoke of the slow pace of negotiations. Croatia, which started negotiations at the same time as Turkey, has already opened 20 chapters, while Turkey is in a routine of only opening two chapters every six months.
"Turkey has taken big steps in the areas of human rights and freedoms. We do whatever we should do for our part and expect the EU to honor its commitments," Ceylan said, adding that Turkey would never accept any alternative other than full membership.
Although Turkey blamed Brussels for slow membership talks, EU officials complained that Turkey was dragging its feet on expected reforms. "The Turkish government does not have the luxury of delaying reforms by using the local elections as an excuse. There is no connection between the election of a mayor in İzmir and the law on state tenders," an EU official was quoted as saying yesterday by NTV television. "If there is no strong come-back to the reform agenda, then no new chapters will be opened."
Environment and taxation
In order to open the remaining chapters Turkey needs to fulfill benchmarks such as presenting an action plan for chapters on environment and taxation, and passing a law on state tenders for the competition chapter. If there is no progress in these areas, it will be difficult for Turkey to proceed with new chapters in EU talks. "If the government does not take these steps we will start questioning their sincerity," the EU side warned.
The delegations from Brussels will also investigate the recent case of Engin Çeber, who died in police custody, and Soner Çankal, who died in a police shooting, during their visit to Turkey.
A delegation from the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament, or EP, headed by Vice President Hannes Swoboda held talks at Parliament yesterday. Meanwhile, the head of the Turkey unit at the European Commission, Jean-Christophe Filori, attended a separate meeting of a sub-committee for industry and trade.
Swoboda exchanged views on the Kurdish issue and on tension in the Southeast during his meeting with Mehmet Ceylan, vice-president of the Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. Although Ceylan said Turkey does not have a Kurdish issue, as such, but a terrorism issue, Swoboda said the issue is not merely about terrorism or underdevelopment of the region. "If the problem was only social and economic, the government would not have taken cultural steps like (those concerning) Kurdish broadcasting."
Kurdish issue and terrorism
Swoboda said, "We have always told the representatives of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, to draw a clear line between the Kurdish issue and terrorism, and to distance themselves from Öcalan," adding they hoped the Constitutional Court would not ban the DTP. Meanwhile, Ceylan spoke of the slow pace of negotiations. Croatia, which started negotiations at the same time as Turkey, has already opened 20 chapters, while Turkey is in a routine of only opening two chapters every six months.
"Turkey has taken big steps in the areas of human rights and freedoms. We do whatever we should do for our part and expect the EU to honor its commitments," Ceylan said, adding that Turkey would never accept any alternative other than full membership.
Although Turkey blamed Brussels for slow membership talks, EU officials complained that Turkey was dragging its feet on expected reforms. "The Turkish government does not have the luxury of delaying reforms by using the local elections as an excuse. There is no connection between the election of a mayor in İzmir and the law on state tenders," an EU official was quoted as saying yesterday by NTV television. "If there is no strong come-back to the reform agenda, then no new chapters will be opened."
Environment and taxation
In order to open the remaining chapters Turkey needs to fulfill benchmarks such as presenting an action plan for chapters on environment and taxation, and passing a law on state tenders for the competition chapter. If there is no progress in these areas, it will be difficult for Turkey to proceed with new chapters in EU talks. "If the government does not take these steps we will start questioning their sincerity," the EU side warned.
The delegations from Brussels will also investigate the recent case of Engin Çeber, who died in police custody, and Soner Çankal, who died in a police shooting, during their visit to Turkey.