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by **joe** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:27 pm

EU report contains stinging criticism of Turkey
07.11.2006 - 17:44 CET | By Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Freedom of speech in Turkey is not guaranteed, the military still plays a "significant" political role and non-Muslim religious communities face discrimination, the European Commission is set to say in a report due out Wednesday and seen by EUobserver.

Just over a year after Turkey started membership negotiations with the EU in October 2005, the European Commission will on Wednesday (8 November) release both a specific progress report on Turkey and a general enlargement report which also deals with Ankara's EU accession bid.

A draft version of the general report says that "Turkey has continued to make progress in reforms," but adds that "the pace of reforms has slowed."

"In 2007, it will be important to undertake determined efforts to broaden the reform momentum throughout Turkey," the document says.

The draft progress report – detailing specific policy areas - kicks off with a chapter on Turkey's compliance with the EU's political and human rights standards which according to the commission leaves a lot to be desired.

"The armed forces have continued to exercise significant political influence. Senior members of the armed forces have expressed their opinion on domestic and foreign policy issues," the draft says referring to generals interfering in issues such as Cyprus, secularism and the Kurdish issue.

Further highlighting the uncontrolled role of Turkey's army, the draft continues by stating that "no further progress has been achieved in terms of strengthening parliamentary overseeing of the military budget and expenditure."

'Climate of self-censorship'
The report is highly critical of restrictions on freedom of speech in the EU candidate country – targeting in particular the notorious article 301 of Turkey's recently adopted penal code, which penalises insults against "Turkishness".

"The prosecutions and convictions for the expression of non-violent opinion under certain provisions of the new Penal Code are a cause for serious concern and may contribute to a climate of self-censorship in the country."

"Freedom of expression in line with European standards is not yet guaranteed in the present legal framework," Brussels concludes in the draft, which was however prepared before Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend indicated he is ready to revise article 301.

Brussels in the report welcomes a "downward trend" in the number of cases of torture and ill-treatment but notes at the same time that torture cases are "still being reported, in particular outside detention centres."

The report further says that non-Muslim religious communities "continued to face restricted property rights" while "full respect of women's rights remains a critical problem, particularly in the poorest areas of the country."

Two local TV stations have been allowed to air in the Kurdish language – but they are not allowed to show educational programmes in Kurdish.

No progress on Cyprus
As expected, Brussels has condemned Turkey's continued blocking of trade from EU member state Cyprus.

"Turkey has continued to deny access to its ports to vessels flying the Republic of Cyprus flag or where the last port of call is Cyprus," Brussels notes, adding Ankara's restrictions "infringe the customs union agreement" it signed with the EU.

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The article also mentions that the report contains some positive notes for Turkey. Read the full article here:
http://euobserver.com/9/22812

by **souroul** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:46 pm

somebody should imprint that on all the turks' foreheads so that it may go thru their thick head. it pisses me off when they try to come out as a democratic nation. democratic my ass, if any part of the government is not elected by the people its not a democracy. and i didnt make that up, its written down.

by **zan** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:00 am

souroul wrote:somebody should imprint that on all the turks' foreheads so that it may go thru their thick head. it pisses me off when they try to come out as a democratic nation. democratic my ass, if any part of the government is not elected by the people its not a democracy. and i didnt make that up, its written down.

Somewhere