Strasbourg, 15/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Turkey's legal framework on women's rights “has in general been satisfactory but its substantive implementation remains flawed”, the European Parliament says in its second report adopted in Strasbourg on 13 February relating to the role of women in the social, economic and political life of Turkey. This own-initiative report by Emine Bozkurt (PES, NL) underlines the fact that respect of human rights, and also those of women, is an essential condition to be met for Turkey's membership to the EU. It criticises the “slowing down of the reform process in Turkey over the last year and the persistent problem with women's rights” and reiterates Parliament's call for “full and effective implementation of the Community acquis in the field of women's rights, particularly in the poorer regions of the country”. MEPs also invite the Turkish government to speed up implementation of the new legislation on women's rights in order to ensure that it is perfectly in line with the needs of acquis communautaire and that it is effectively put into practice. Although MEPs acknowledge that the new Penal Code (in force since 2005) substantially strengthens the basic rights of women, they also note with concern that (unsuccessful) attempts have been made to repeal legislation on women's rights. MEPs also deplore the fact that, in parts of south-east Turkey, girls are not registered at birth. This hampers the fight against forced marriage and honour crimes since the victims have no official identity. MEPs urge Turkish authorities to continue taking all necessary measures to ensure that all Turkish children are registered at birth. The report condemns “instances of violence against women, including honour killings, domestic violence, force marriage and polygamy”. It calls on the Turkish government and the European Commission to tackle “violence in general and honour crime in particular” as a priority, and to set up special high-security shelters. Finally, the report notes “the political participation by women in Turkey is too low”. (hb)