TURKEY
HAS LESS THAN TWO YEARS LEFT TO MEET EU's POLITICAL ACCESSION
CRITERIA
-- Parliament adds
"capacity for absorption" and "geographical issues" to considerations
over EU expansion --
Brussels, Belgium - Noting
the slowing pace of reform in Turkey, the
European Parliament has
called upon the Turkish government to take
immediate steps to ends its
discriminatory and repressive policies.
In its recently adopted
resolution on the "Commission's 2005 Enlargement Strategy
Report," the Parliament also called on the European Commission to define
the geographical boundaries of the European Union. This report, prepared
by Elmar Brok (Conservative, Germany), Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, aims to formulate a comprehensive enlargement policy before
focusing on candidate nations (Macedonia, Western Balkans) and countries
in negotiation (Turkey, Croatia).
In the section of the report
dedicated to Turkey, the European Parliament
states that the priorities
outlined in the Accession Partnership [...]
have to be accomplished in the
first phase f the negotiations" and "notes with satisfaction
that the Commission now supports this view as well by stating that
those criteria have to be fulfilled within one or two years."
Based on these
considerations, the Parliament therefore called upon Turkey "to
present as soon as possible a plan, including a timetable and specific measures,
to meet these deadlines," and urged the Commission and theCouncil "to
make the progress of the negotiations conditional on the timely accomplishment
of those priorities."
This demand comes in reaction
to the slowing down of Turkey's reforms,
which were noted in the
resolution. The Parliament also formally asked Turkey "to remove
all existing legislative and practical obstacles to full enjoyment of fundamental
rights and freedoms by all Turkish citizens, notably freedom of expression,
religious freedom, cultural rights, rights of minorities." The Resolution
also urged the Commission "to conduct a rigorous and thorough scrutiny
of developments on the ground."
The adopted text - for the
first time in European Union history - also
recalled that "the
capacity for absorption of the Union [...] remains one
of
the conditions for the
accession of new countries" and stressed that
"defining the nature of
the European Union, including its geographical
borders, is fundamental to
understanding the concept of absorption
capacity."
Thus, the Parliament
requested that that Commission " submit a report by 31st
December 2006 setting out the principles which underpin this concept"
and invites it "to
factor this element into the overall negotiation
timetable."
"We welcome the adoption
of this resolution as a true expression of the
growing will of the European
Parliament to be involved in the Union's
decision-making processes.
This measure - like the many previously adopted resolutions
on this matter - urges the European Commission and Council to not
be satisfied with pledges and prolonged delays, but rather to demand genuine
reforms in Turkey," said Hilda Tchoboian, Chairperson of the European
Armenian Federation.
"We are working with
European democratic movements in order to require that Turkey
meet its criteria within the next two years - including its full recognition
of the Armenian Genocide and the abandonment of its aggressive policies
toward Armenia."
