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ANKARA: Turkey Should Resume Its Reform Process, Rehn

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  • ANKARA: Turkey Should Resume Its Reform Process, Rehn

    TURKEY SHOULD RESUME ITS REFORM PROCESS, REHN

    Turkish Press
    Oct 4 2006

    ANKARA - Turkey should resume its reform process with determination,
    said European Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn.

    Holding a joint press conference with Salih Kilic, the chairman of
    Turk-Is (Confederation of Turkish Employees' Trade Unions) in capital
    Ankara, Rehn stated that he is visiting Turkey for three reasons, and
    listed them as ensuring cooperation among social partners and showing
    the importance they attach to the NGOs; marking the first anniversary
    of start of Turkey-EU entry talks. "And, thirdly I am here because
    I don't want this first anniversary to be the last one," he said.

    Rehn pointed out that Turkey should fulfil its liabilities,
    particularly those stemming from additional protocol to the Customs
    Union.

    On the recent initiative launched by EU Acting President Finland
    regarding Cyprus, Rehn said that this initiative has not been rejected
    by any parties so far, and noted that all parties are trying to find
    a solution as they have seen the seriousness of this matter.

    Rehn refrained from detailing this initiative, but he said, "I don't
    want to be so much optimistic but this is an encouraging situation."

    -GEN. BUYUKANIT'S REMARKS-

    On Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit's remarks about
    fundamentalist threat and asked if he sees such a threat, Rehn said
    that they have great respect to the professionalism of the Turkish
    Armed Forces, but underlined importance of reforms for democratization
    of civilian-military relations.

    "The army is under civilian control in European democracies," he said.

    -ARTICLE 301 OF TCK-

    Commenting on the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, Rehn noted
    that the freedom of expression is defined as a fundamental freedom
    in the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Rehn said, "you see that there is not any concept like insulting
    Britishness or insulting Finnishness. So, there is no approach in EU
    countries like the approach in Article 301 (insulting Turkishness)."

    Rehn pointed out that the number of cases filed under this article
    has risen, pointing out that more than 60 people have been tried
    under Article 301.

    Most of the cases ended up with acquittal, he said. "Turkey is a strong
    country, why does it need such an article. It is not an article in
    line with EU standards," he noted.

    Rehn said that there should not be any violence when expressing
    thoughts.

    "If any thought incites violence, this is another thing. In this case,
    it cannot be considered within the scope of freedom of expression,"
    he added.

    Rehn emphasized that it will be for the best interest of Turkish
    people if Turkey fully ensures freedom of expression, and said
    this will also be important for not only social change, democratic
    progress and Turkey's modernization, but also it is related with the
    negotiation process.

    -SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS-

    Stressing that recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide
    allegations is not a precondition before Turkey's membership, Rehn
    said that such historical issues should be solved within Turkey,
    and underlined importance of discussion of this matter by Turkey
    and Armenia.

    Rehn said that the EU is supporting all types of dialogue aiming to
    resolve this matter, and welcomed Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
    proposal to set up a joint commission of historians.

    Reiterating resumption of Turkey's reform process, Rehn said that the
    ninth reform package should be adopted as a first step, then freedom
    of expression, rights of Non-Muslims and religious minorities should
    be taken up.

    "We may prevent a train crash by taking necessary decisions," he added.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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