Brussels, 14/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 14 April, MEPs spoke out against the step backwards in democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.
In a resolution on the report by Kati Piri (S&D, the Netherlands) on Turkey in 2015, which MEPs adopted by 375 votes in favour, 133 against and 87 abstentions, the MEPs say they are “deeply concerned (…) that the overall pace of reforms in Turkey has slowed down considerably in recent years, and that in certain key areas (…) there has been a regression”. They mention the independence of the judiciary, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of expression, and the respect for human rights and the rule of law. The MEPs would also like Turkey to make a priority of fighting corruption.
The Parliament states that “reforms in the areas of the judiciary and fundamental rights and of justice, freedom and security are urgently needed in Turkey”. It “calls, without prejudice to member states' positions, on the Council of the EU to propose, once the official opening benchmarks are met, the opening of chapters 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security)”.
In addition, the MEPs say that the negotiation process and cooperation on migration between the EU and Turkey should not be linked. “EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should not be linked to the calendar, content and conditionality of the negotiation process”, they state. Turkey obtained the opening of a new negotiation chapter in exchange for EU aid to tackle the migrant crisis. While it is essential to cooperate with Turkey in order to manage the refugee crisis, “outsourcing the refugee crisis to Turkey is not a credible long-term solution to the problem”.
The Parliament also “strongly supports a structured, more frequent and open high-level political dialogue on key thematic issues of joint interest” such as migration, counter-terrorism, energy, economy and trade. The MEPs call for the customs union to be upgraded and for its scope to be expanded to cover new sectors, including agricultural products, services and public procurement.
They also want an “immediate” ceasefire in the south-east of the country, and the resumption of the peace process in order to achieve a negotiated solution to the Kurdish issue.
The European Parliament hails the “considerable” progress achieved in the Cyprus reunification talks. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)