Strasbourg, 13/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 13 June, the European Parliament urged Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “to adopt a position of unity and conciliation so as to avoid any worsening of the situation”. In the common resolution adopted, MEPs deplore the “harsh” reactions of the Turkish government and of Erdogan - “whose refusal to take initiatives towards reconciliation and to apologise or understand the reaction of a section of the Turkish population only contributes to polarising Turkish society more”. Reiterating the importance of dialogue, they deplore the fact that, despite the announcement of talks by the authorities, the police violence continues - “casting a shadow on the prospects for talks”. The MEPs do not bring their clear support to the protesters.
Speaking of its deep concern at the “disproportionate and excessive recourse to force by the Turkish police in response to the peaceful and legitimate demonstrations” in Istanbul's Gezi Park, the European Parliament calls on the authorities to investigate the police violence in more depth and to bring those responsible to justice. “We have seen too many examples of excessive force from the police over the last two weeks (the use of tear gas, water cannons, pepper spray and plastic bullets) against demonstrators who have been extremely peaceful”, deplored High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and numerous MEPs during a debate on 12 June. “The people that I saw in Taksim [Square, Istanbul] are not looters or vandals. They are Turkey's children, calling for peace, liberty and respect. They quite simply aspire to being able to speak and be listened to”, said Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle.
In their resolution, the MEPs call for the guarantee and respect of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration, and they call for the immediate release of the peaceful demonstrators being detained. All citizens should feel represented and the majority is bound to associating the opposition and civil society in the process of decision-making, the European Parliament stresses, underling the responsibility of the opposition.
Calling on the Turkish government to respect the principle of press freedom, the European Parliament is concerned at the deterioration in this freedom and at certain acts of censorship and self-censorship in the Turkish media - including on the internet. “Social media must not be considered mainly as a source of trouble but as a valuable channel of communication, protest and dialogue”, Ashton said. Like the MEPs, Ashton stressed the lack of national media coverage given to the demonstrations.
Greater EU engagement. During the debate, Ashton, Füle and several MEPs called for greater cooperation between the EU and Turkey. “It is not the time to disengage from Turkey but to engage more closely”, Ashton said. “It is important to start the negotiation on Chapter 23 (judicial apparatus and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security) and to do this as quickly as possible. It's as much in our interest as in the Turkish interest”, said Füle. The opening of these chapters is also called for by Hannes Swoboda (Austria) on behalf of the S&D Group, and by Hélène Flautre (France) on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group.
Erdogan doesn't care. Even before the resolution was adopted, Erdogan said that he does not recognise “any decision that the European Parliament makes on Turkey”, stating that the Parliament should look at Greece before putting Turkey down for the use of force against the demonstrators (our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)