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Hurriyet, Turkey
March 19 2015
CHP boycotts Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) boycotted the 76th
Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission (KPK) meeting on March 19 in
protest at the "autocratic rule" of the Turkish government and its
"insincere and oppressive" policies.
In a press conference, CHP deputy Oguz Oyan cited rumours that the
government was planning to shut down their party and said a
"systematic campaign" was being carried out to this end. Oyan
particularly referred to "slander" against CHP deputy Umut Oran for
the latter's supposed involvement in an alleged assassination plot
targeting President Recep Tayyep Erdogan's daughter, Summeyye Erdogan.
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers have criticized
the CHP's decision to protest the meeting, saying Oran had sent the
relevant letter to European Parliament deputies but not to Turkish
participants of the Commission.
At the meeting, several European Parliament deputies expressed concern
about the state of freedom of expression and freedom of the media in
Turkey, along with concerns about the under-discussion domestic
security package. Greek and Greek Cypriot parliamentarians also
reiterated the necessity of Turkey's "recognition of Cyprus and its
economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea."
'EU Ministry non-functional'
Speaking at the opening of Committee meeting, Turkish Parliament
Speaker Cemil Cicek said no chapters are currently being negotiated
with the EU at the moment, so Ankara's EU Ministry was almost
"non-functional."
"We established the Ministry for EU Affairs in order to show the
importance we attached to the process. But the ministry has almost
become non-functional," Cicek said.
Don't harm spirit of report for Turkey: EU minister
EU Minister Volkan Bozkir, meanwhile, called on European Parliament
members to "avoid harming relations between Ankara and Brussels,"
recalling the 442 motions given for a report prepared by the EU's
Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri.
Bozkir stressed that the report is "not a report of the European
Parliament," but rather a joint one.
Both Cicek and Bozkir also repeated Ankara's line that the European
Parliament should "leave the issue of the 1915 incidents to
historians," referring to the massacres of Ottoman Armenian subjects,
which most historians say amounted to genocide.
Cicek criticized attempts in the European Parliament about the
"Armenian claims for the 1915 incidents," adding that these "biased
steps do not serve Turkish-Armenian friendship, but rather interrupt
the efforts of Turks and Armenians to jointly build their future."
March/19/2015
March 19 2015
CHP boycotts Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) boycotted the 76th
Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission (KPK) meeting on March 19 in
protest at the "autocratic rule" of the Turkish government and its
"insincere and oppressive" policies.
In a press conference, CHP deputy Oguz Oyan cited rumours that the
government was planning to shut down their party and said a
"systematic campaign" was being carried out to this end. Oyan
particularly referred to "slander" against CHP deputy Umut Oran for
the latter's supposed involvement in an alleged assassination plot
targeting President Recep Tayyep Erdogan's daughter, Summeyye Erdogan.
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers have criticized
the CHP's decision to protest the meeting, saying Oran had sent the
relevant letter to European Parliament deputies but not to Turkish
participants of the Commission.
At the meeting, several European Parliament deputies expressed concern
about the state of freedom of expression and freedom of the media in
Turkey, along with concerns about the under-discussion domestic
security package. Greek and Greek Cypriot parliamentarians also
reiterated the necessity of Turkey's "recognition of Cyprus and its
economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea."
'EU Ministry non-functional'
Speaking at the opening of Committee meeting, Turkish Parliament
Speaker Cemil Cicek said no chapters are currently being negotiated
with the EU at the moment, so Ankara's EU Ministry was almost
"non-functional."
"We established the Ministry for EU Affairs in order to show the
importance we attached to the process. But the ministry has almost
become non-functional," Cicek said.
Don't harm spirit of report for Turkey: EU minister
EU Minister Volkan Bozkir, meanwhile, called on European Parliament
members to "avoid harming relations between Ankara and Brussels,"
recalling the 442 motions given for a report prepared by the EU's
Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri.
Bozkir stressed that the report is "not a report of the European
Parliament," but rather a joint one.
Both Cicek and Bozkir also repeated Ankara's line that the European
Parliament should "leave the issue of the 1915 incidents to
historians," referring to the massacres of Ottoman Armenian subjects,
which most historians say amounted to genocide.
Cicek criticized attempts in the European Parliament about the
"Armenian claims for the 1915 incidents," adding that these "biased
steps do not serve Turkish-Armenian friendship, but rather interrupt
the efforts of Turks and Armenians to jointly build their future."
March/19/2015