Brussels, 28/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the vote in Strasbourg on 27 September on the Eurlings Report on Turkey further reactions have been added to those reported in EUROPE 9274.
Françoise Grossetête (EPP-ED, France) was pleased that the EP had “at last dared to cast honest eyes on Turkey”. “For too long the EP has shown naïve optimism on the Turkish issue,” she said, recalling that she had always opposed Turkish accession and that she would prefer “privileged partnership” between the EU and Turkey. She regretted, however, that the Plenary had ultimately removed the passage which stated that acknowledgement by Ankara of the Armenian genocide was a precondition for EU accession. “I regret the EP's lack of courage,” she said in a press release. Most French UMP MEPs (EPP-ED group) abstained, said Jacques Toubon in a press release. On the one hand, they did not want to vote against, because “it is the firmest and most critical report” on Turkey ever adopted by the EP, while on the other, they couldn't vote for it because acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide was no longer considered as a precondition for accession, Toubon said. The European Armenian Federation obviously regretted Parliament's step back on this issue, but considered nonetheless that “the impact of the removal (of the relevant paragraph) was moderated” by what Camiel Eurlings said after the vote. According to the European Armenian Federation, the rapporteur said, “Let us be very clear: even if acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide is not a formal accession criterion, Turkey will not be able to join the Union without facing up to its past”.
Greek Socialist Panagiotis Beglitis said in a press release that he thought that Euro-Turkish relations were in a “critical situation'”. The reform process had been suspended and important legislatives changes “either have not come into force or are being applied selectively”. The Turkish government recently debated the 9th reform package in parliament. Beglitis said this was an important step, marking a positive turn of events. He went on “However, it has to be stressed sincerely and frankly that a lot remains to be done, … especially on the protection of the rights of minorities”, the operation and ownership of religious establishments and their legal status and the rights of the clergy in terms of training and instruction. “Denigrating the progress made would be a serious mistake … but so would describing the situation as idyllic,” he said, stressing too that Ankara had to abide by its commitments on the Customs Union: “Turkey has a duty to ratify and immediately implement the Additional Protocol, including the points relating to Cyprus”.
Italian Radical MEP Marco Cappato explained he had voted against the Eurlings report because he felt that “with the approval of this text, our House has once again closed the doors of the EU to the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East”.