Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) -On Wednesday 12 March, MEPs called on Turkey to make its constitutional reform a “top priority” for the modernisation and democratisation of the country. In their adoption (475 votes in favour, 153 against and 43 abstentions) of a resolution on the 2013 progress report for Turkey, MEPs expressed concern at the lack of progress on constitutional reform, particularly the suspension of the work of the conciliation committee of the Turkish Parliament on constitutional amendments. The process of this reform should be carried out transparently and inclusively, they add.
Stressing its grave concerns over recent developments with allegations of high-level corruption, and lamenting the fact that public prosecutors and police officers in charge of the original investigations have been removed from their positions, the European Parliament called immediately on the Turkish government to abstain from any further interference in the investigations and prosecutions. MEPs also expressed concern at the draft law on the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and a draft internet law, and call for these to be reformed. The European Parliament calls on the Turkish authorities to respond to public demonstrations with greater restraint, following the events in Gezi last spring and in view of the fact that 150 demonstrators were challenged and 20 injured in gatherings in several cities in Turkey to protest at the death, on 11 March, of a 15-year-old boy wounded by police in June.
During the plenary debate on 11 March, most of the MEPs stressed the problems in terms of the independence and impartiality of the justice system and regarding the freedom of expression. “The accession process should be suspended until Turkey is considering better things for the freedom of expression and independence of the judiciary”, said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (ALDE, Germany), speaking on behalf of his group. He was supported by Andrew Duff (ALDE, UK).
Strengthened dialogue and close cooperation between the EU and Turkey on the reform process are important, the MEPs also reiterated. Welcoming the opening of the chapter on regional policy (22), they call on the Council to take steps to open chapters on the judicial system and fundamental rights (23) and on justice, liberty and security (24). During the debate, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle stressed that he would continue to invite the Council to prepare a roadmap or, at least, benchmarks for Chapter 23 of the accession negotiations. MEPs welcomed the democratisation package presented on 30 September and called on the government to implement it “quickly and in full”.
Stressing that Turkey is a strategic partner of the EU, the Parliament pointed out that considerable progress has been made over the last 12 months. Amongst other things, it welcomed the signature of the readmission agreement and the opening of dialogue on visa liberalisation.
MEPs reiterated their support for the reunification of Cyprus and once again deplored Ankara's refusal to fulfil its obligations for the full and non-discriminatory implementation of the additional protocol. They also support the government's initiative to work to resolve the Kurdish issue. (CG)