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EU TO CRITICIZE TURKISH GOV'T ON GEZI, HAIL REFORM PACKAGE
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 9 2013
1
Turkish soldiers hold up a Turkish and European Union flag in Ankara.
(Photo: AP, Burhan Ozbilici) 9 October 2013 / SELCUK GULTAĆ~^LI,
BRUSSELS The European Union will praise the Turkish government for its
commitment to political reforms and democratization but will strongly
criticize the way it handled the Gezi Park events as well as limits
on freedom of expression and the media, according to a draft of the
EU's progress report obtained by Today's Zaman.
The draft of the report, which will be published on Oct. 16, does
not call on EU members to postpone the talks on Chapter 22. The
chapter was officially opened in late June, but its actual launch
was postponed until after the progress report.
The EU's draft welcomes the Sept. 30 democratization package, saying:
"For the implementation of the package, both legislation and decrees
will need to be adopted by Parliament and the government respectively.
The package opens the perspective for changes to the current 10
percent threshold for representation in Parliament and provides for
the decrease of the threshold for budget support to political parties,
the easing of conditions for the establishment of political parties
and the removal of restrictions on political party membership. It
would also allow the conduct of political activity in languages and
dialects other than Turkish, education in languages and dialects other
than Turkish in private schools, the removal of criminal sanctions for
the use of letters 'Q,' 'X' and 'W' used in Kurdish and the change of
names of villages back to the versions which preceded the 1980 coup."
Although the draft says the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission
had reached a consensus in principle on close to 60 articles, there
was no consensus on key political issues such as the separation of
powers or a new definition of citizenship without ethnic references,
a key demand of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
The government is also praised in the report for its civilian-military
relations and settlement process. However, the EU strongly criticized
the government on the Gezi Park events. "A divisive political climate
prevailed; the government notably adopted overall an uncompromising
stance during the protest[s in] late May and early June, including
a polarizing tone towards citizens, civil society organization and
businesses. The government did not conduct sufficient consultations
with stake-holders on the adoption of key policies and legislation
and failed to carry out adequate impact assessments," the report
draft says.
President Abdullah Gul, as in previous years, is appreciated in the
draft for his "conciliatory role." The president maintained this
role across Turkey's political spectrum and society, warning against
polarization, including during the Gezi demonstrations in May and
June, when he defended the right to peaceful assembly and dissent,
the draft says. The EU underlines that Gul consistently stressed the
need to pursue EU reforms and gave active support to the settlement
process. "The president lent active support to the peace process aimed
at ending terrorism and violence in the southeast of the country,
the ultimate purpose of which he defined as raising the democratic
standards of Turkey," document said.
Commenting widely on Gezi Park, the draft says the demonstrations
were peaceful despite the involvement of a small number of violent
protesters. Criticizing the use of excessive police force against
demonstrators, the draft stresses that "Turkish legislation and its
implementation concerning the right to assembly and intervention by
law enforcement officers are still to be brought further in line with
European standards."
On civilian-military relations, the report draft welcomed the further
consolidation of civilian oversight of the security forces but noted
the lack of progress on the civilian control of the gendarmerie. The
judicial process of the Uludere killings was also criticized.
"Military and civilian judicial investigations into the December
2011 Uludere incident in which 34 civilians lost their lives as a
result of a military strike remained subject to a secrecy decision
and were not finalized. No administrative measure was taken to punish
any individual for the incident," the EU wrote in its draft.
On Ergenekon, the draft says the case was finalized at first instance
in August 2013. "The ruling acknowledges the existence of a criminal
network aiming to undermine democratically elected governments. The
flaws of the Turkish criminal justice system outlined above undermined
the acceptance of the ruling by all segments of Turkish society
and tainted it with allegations of political score-settling," the
draft said.
The EU, just as in last year's progress report, strongly criticizes
the lack of progress in the areas of freedom of press and expression.
The draft draws a damning conclusion: "As a result, the freedom of
media remained restricted in practice."
Despite some positive developments, such as opening up space for free
debate on sensitive topics like the Kurdish and Armenian issues and the
removal of thousands of titles from the list of banned publications,
the draft says: "Statements of state officials had a chilling effect
and instigated investigations by public prosecutors.
Moreover, state officials themselves continued to launch suits
against critical journalists and writers. This, together with the
high concentration of media ownership in the hands of industrial
conglomerates with interests going far beyond the free circulation
of information, continued to lead to widespread self-censorship by
media owners and journalists. In particular, the mainstream media
hardly reported on the Gezi Park protests in early June. Columnists
and journalists were fired or forced to resign after criticizing
[the] government."
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-328585-eu-to-criticize-turkish-govt-on-gezi-hail-reform-package.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 9 2013
1
Turkish soldiers hold up a Turkish and European Union flag in Ankara.
(Photo: AP, Burhan Ozbilici) 9 October 2013 / SELCUK GULTAĆ~^LI,
BRUSSELS The European Union will praise the Turkish government for its
commitment to political reforms and democratization but will strongly
criticize the way it handled the Gezi Park events as well as limits
on freedom of expression and the media, according to a draft of the
EU's progress report obtained by Today's Zaman.
The draft of the report, which will be published on Oct. 16, does
not call on EU members to postpone the talks on Chapter 22. The
chapter was officially opened in late June, but its actual launch
was postponed until after the progress report.
The EU's draft welcomes the Sept. 30 democratization package, saying:
"For the implementation of the package, both legislation and decrees
will need to be adopted by Parliament and the government respectively.
The package opens the perspective for changes to the current 10
percent threshold for representation in Parliament and provides for
the decrease of the threshold for budget support to political parties,
the easing of conditions for the establishment of political parties
and the removal of restrictions on political party membership. It
would also allow the conduct of political activity in languages and
dialects other than Turkish, education in languages and dialects other
than Turkish in private schools, the removal of criminal sanctions for
the use of letters 'Q,' 'X' and 'W' used in Kurdish and the change of
names of villages back to the versions which preceded the 1980 coup."
Although the draft says the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission
had reached a consensus in principle on close to 60 articles, there
was no consensus on key political issues such as the separation of
powers or a new definition of citizenship without ethnic references,
a key demand of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
The government is also praised in the report for its civilian-military
relations and settlement process. However, the EU strongly criticized
the government on the Gezi Park events. "A divisive political climate
prevailed; the government notably adopted overall an uncompromising
stance during the protest[s in] late May and early June, including
a polarizing tone towards citizens, civil society organization and
businesses. The government did not conduct sufficient consultations
with stake-holders on the adoption of key policies and legislation
and failed to carry out adequate impact assessments," the report
draft says.
President Abdullah Gul, as in previous years, is appreciated in the
draft for his "conciliatory role." The president maintained this
role across Turkey's political spectrum and society, warning against
polarization, including during the Gezi demonstrations in May and
June, when he defended the right to peaceful assembly and dissent,
the draft says. The EU underlines that Gul consistently stressed the
need to pursue EU reforms and gave active support to the settlement
process. "The president lent active support to the peace process aimed
at ending terrorism and violence in the southeast of the country,
the ultimate purpose of which he defined as raising the democratic
standards of Turkey," document said.
Commenting widely on Gezi Park, the draft says the demonstrations
were peaceful despite the involvement of a small number of violent
protesters. Criticizing the use of excessive police force against
demonstrators, the draft stresses that "Turkish legislation and its
implementation concerning the right to assembly and intervention by
law enforcement officers are still to be brought further in line with
European standards."
On civilian-military relations, the report draft welcomed the further
consolidation of civilian oversight of the security forces but noted
the lack of progress on the civilian control of the gendarmerie. The
judicial process of the Uludere killings was also criticized.
"Military and civilian judicial investigations into the December
2011 Uludere incident in which 34 civilians lost their lives as a
result of a military strike remained subject to a secrecy decision
and were not finalized. No administrative measure was taken to punish
any individual for the incident," the EU wrote in its draft.
On Ergenekon, the draft says the case was finalized at first instance
in August 2013. "The ruling acknowledges the existence of a criminal
network aiming to undermine democratically elected governments. The
flaws of the Turkish criminal justice system outlined above undermined
the acceptance of the ruling by all segments of Turkish society
and tainted it with allegations of political score-settling," the
draft said.
The EU, just as in last year's progress report, strongly criticizes
the lack of progress in the areas of freedom of press and expression.
The draft draws a damning conclusion: "As a result, the freedom of
media remained restricted in practice."
Despite some positive developments, such as opening up space for free
debate on sensitive topics like the Kurdish and Armenian issues and the
removal of thousands of titles from the list of banned publications,
the draft says: "Statements of state officials had a chilling effect
and instigated investigations by public prosecutors.
Moreover, state officials themselves continued to launch suits
against critical journalists and writers. This, together with the
high concentration of media ownership in the hands of industrial
conglomerates with interests going far beyond the free circulation
of information, continued to lead to widespread self-censorship by
media owners and journalists. In particular, the mainstream media
hardly reported on the Gezi Park protests in early June. Columnists
and journalists were fired or forced to resign after criticizing
[the] government."
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-328585-eu-to-criticize-turkish-govt-on-gezi-hail-reform-package.html