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EU URGES CHARTER COMPROMISE
Journal of Turkish Weekly
March 2 2012
The Turkish government and opposition should pursue constructive
relations that avoid disputes as a precondition for a reform process,
the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) has said
in a new report on the country.
The committee also called for a civil constitution in Turkey in its
draft report approved yesterday.
A draft report by the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Ria
Oomen-Ruijten, was approved with 54 votes to seven at AFET yesterday.
The report underlined the concern over an official notice sent to
the Justice Ministry by a prosecutor to initiate the process of
filing a case against Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal
Kılıcdaroglu. The draft report also warned Turkey on long detention
and trial periods. Meanwhile, the controversial case on the murder
of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was also mentioned in the
draft, with the EP calling on Turkey to investigate the matter in
its entirety while also bringing whoever is responsible to justice.
The draft report said all political parties and relevant parties should
assist the drafting of the new constitution and assume a constructive
attitude on the matter.
Meanwhile, some attempts by far-right and far-left deputies in the
European Parliament to add articles about Armenian genocide allegations
to the draft have failed.
The draft report also said that Turkey, as a regional actor, played a
key role in the Middle East, West Balkans, South Caucasus, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Central Asia and Horn of Africa.
"Turkey and the EU are interdependent. The EU profits from the booming
Turkish economy. But Turkey and the EU can both profit by enhancing
their cooperation in fields like foreign policy, energy security and
the fight against terrorism. Turkey has proved that it is able to
play a positive role in a turbulent region," said Oomen-Ruijten.
Journal of Turkish Weekly
March 2 2012
The Turkish government and opposition should pursue constructive
relations that avoid disputes as a precondition for a reform process,
the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) has said
in a new report on the country.
The committee also called for a civil constitution in Turkey in its
draft report approved yesterday.
A draft report by the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Ria
Oomen-Ruijten, was approved with 54 votes to seven at AFET yesterday.
The report underlined the concern over an official notice sent to
the Justice Ministry by a prosecutor to initiate the process of
filing a case against Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal
Kılıcdaroglu. The draft report also warned Turkey on long detention
and trial periods. Meanwhile, the controversial case on the murder
of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was also mentioned in the
draft, with the EP calling on Turkey to investigate the matter in
its entirety while also bringing whoever is responsible to justice.
The draft report said all political parties and relevant parties should
assist the drafting of the new constitution and assume a constructive
attitude on the matter.
Meanwhile, some attempts by far-right and far-left deputies in the
European Parliament to add articles about Armenian genocide allegations
to the draft have failed.
The draft report also said that Turkey, as a regional actor, played a
key role in the Middle East, West Balkans, South Caucasus, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Central Asia and Horn of Africa.
"Turkey and the EU are interdependent. The EU profits from the booming
Turkish economy. But Turkey and the EU can both profit by enhancing
their cooperation in fields like foreign policy, energy security and
the fight against terrorism. Turkey has proved that it is able to
play a positive role in a turbulent region," said Oomen-Ruijten.