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Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Sept 28 2005
EU warns Turkey on penal code ahead of entry talks
STRASBOURG, France - The European Commission told Turkey on Wednesday
it would have to change its reformed penal code again if hardline
prosecutors can still try a top novelist for his views on the 1915
killing of Armenians.
European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made the remark in
a heated debate in the European Parliament five days before Ankara is
due to open membership talks with the EU.
Leading conservative lawmakers used the debate to vent deep
misgivings about the prospect of admitting Turkey to the 25-nation
bloc, citing its record on human rights and religious freedom and its
refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus.
Some also questioned the EU's ability to absorb the poor, populous,
mainly Muslim country financially and institutionally.
Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused uproar by accusing some
right-wing critics of Turkey of `surfing on a wave of racism'.
A non-binding resolution backed by all the major political groups
endorsed the EU's decision to open accession talks next Monday but
demanded strict monitoring of Turkey's performance.
`The case of author Orhan Pamuk is emblematic of the difficulties to
ensure effective and uniform implementation of these reforms, and
also of the struggle between reformers and conservatives in Turkey,'
Rehn told parliament.
An Istanbul judge is prosecuting the writer for `denigrating Turkish
identity' on accusations he endorsed allegations that Armenians
suffered genocide at Ottoman Turkish hands in 1915.
Pamuk faces up to three years in jail if convicted. Turkey denies the
mass killings were genocide and the issue is acutely politically
sensitive.
Rehn said Brussels' assessment of the new penal code, adopted to meet
EU criteria, would depend on how such provisions were implemented,
citing also recent cases of journalists being prosecuted for
expressing peaceful opinions.
Strategic case
`If this is indeed the direction by the judiciary in Turkey, then the
Turkish penal code will have to be amended in such a way that freedom
of expression is not subject to the very particular beliefs of some
autistic judge any more, but simply follows European standards as we
know them on the basis of the European Convention of Human Rights,'
he said.
However, the commissioner said that on balance, Turkey had made
sufficient progress on human rights to justify opening talks, saying
the negotiations would give the EU crucial leverage over the
direction of Turkish reforms.
He said the talks would give a boost to Turkish reformers and that
the EU's negotiating mandate, still to be finally agreed by member
states, was the most rigorous ever adopted for talks with a candidate
country.
Austria wants to include the prospect of a `privileged partnership'
falling short of membership but Ankara reaffirmed on Wednesday it
would only accept full membership as the goal.
`Any deviation from full membership is completely unacceptable,' a
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
British Europe Minister Douglas Alexander, speaking on behalf of the
EU presidency, underscored the strategic case for Turkey's accession.
It could boost Europe's security, stability and prosperity and show
the world there was no contradiction between Islam and democracy, he
argued.
Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.
Reflecting those divisions, the largest faction in the EU
legislature, the conservative European People's Party, gave its
members a free vote and they spoke on both sides of the debate.
EPP leader Hans-Gert Poettering said if Turkey did not improve its
human rights record within a certain period after starting talks,
`then we should be prepared to suspend the negotiations'.
Sept 28 2005
EU warns Turkey on penal code ahead of entry talks
STRASBOURG, France - The European Commission told Turkey on Wednesday
it would have to change its reformed penal code again if hardline
prosecutors can still try a top novelist for his views on the 1915
killing of Armenians.
European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made the remark in
a heated debate in the European Parliament five days before Ankara is
due to open membership talks with the EU.
Leading conservative lawmakers used the debate to vent deep
misgivings about the prospect of admitting Turkey to the 25-nation
bloc, citing its record on human rights and religious freedom and its
refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus.
Some also questioned the EU's ability to absorb the poor, populous,
mainly Muslim country financially and institutionally.
Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused uproar by accusing some
right-wing critics of Turkey of `surfing on a wave of racism'.
A non-binding resolution backed by all the major political groups
endorsed the EU's decision to open accession talks next Monday but
demanded strict monitoring of Turkey's performance.
`The case of author Orhan Pamuk is emblematic of the difficulties to
ensure effective and uniform implementation of these reforms, and
also of the struggle between reformers and conservatives in Turkey,'
Rehn told parliament.
An Istanbul judge is prosecuting the writer for `denigrating Turkish
identity' on accusations he endorsed allegations that Armenians
suffered genocide at Ottoman Turkish hands in 1915.
Pamuk faces up to three years in jail if convicted. Turkey denies the
mass killings were genocide and the issue is acutely politically
sensitive.
Rehn said Brussels' assessment of the new penal code, adopted to meet
EU criteria, would depend on how such provisions were implemented,
citing also recent cases of journalists being prosecuted for
expressing peaceful opinions.
Strategic case
`If this is indeed the direction by the judiciary in Turkey, then the
Turkish penal code will have to be amended in such a way that freedom
of expression is not subject to the very particular beliefs of some
autistic judge any more, but simply follows European standards as we
know them on the basis of the European Convention of Human Rights,'
he said.
However, the commissioner said that on balance, Turkey had made
sufficient progress on human rights to justify opening talks, saying
the negotiations would give the EU crucial leverage over the
direction of Turkish reforms.
He said the talks would give a boost to Turkish reformers and that
the EU's negotiating mandate, still to be finally agreed by member
states, was the most rigorous ever adopted for talks with a candidate
country.
Austria wants to include the prospect of a `privileged partnership'
falling short of membership but Ankara reaffirmed on Wednesday it
would only accept full membership as the goal.
`Any deviation from full membership is completely unacceptable,' a
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
British Europe Minister Douglas Alexander, speaking on behalf of the
EU presidency, underscored the strategic case for Turkey's accession.
It could boost Europe's security, stability and prosperity and show
the world there was no contradiction between Islam and democracy, he
argued.
Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.
Reflecting those divisions, the largest faction in the EU
legislature, the conservative European People's Party, gave its
members a free vote and they spoke on both sides of the debate.
EPP leader Hans-Gert Poettering said if Turkey did not improve its
human rights record within a certain period after starting talks,
`then we should be prepared to suspend the negotiations'.