16/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg next week, the European Parliament will discuss and vote on, on 21 May, the report by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP-ED) on progress made by Turkey in its internal reforms and in accession talks. In the run up to this important debate, the Socialist Group at the EP urges the EU to “honour its Turkish commitment” and to treat Turkey like any other candidate country “with its rights and obligations”. “Turkey should be judged on its own merits”, that is on the progress that it has made in its reforms, say Jan Marinus Wiersma and Hannes Swoboda in a press release on 15 May. The PES Group welcomes the recent amendment of Article 302 of the penal code, but considers that purely and simply removing this article and other provisions that restrict freedom of expression in Turkey would be “the best solution”. Ankara should also honour the rights of trade unions and women, consolidate democracy and secularism and find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the problem of the Kurds, Wiersma and Swoboda say. (H.B.)