Pushing for progress

Democracy, rule of law and the recognition of individual freedoms develop a state into a society in which prosperity and stability prevail.

In 2004, Turkey made a commitment to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria. As rapporteur, I closely follow the progress and developments in fulfilling the arrangements on behalf of the European parliament.

The conclusions of the 2007 progress report of the commission on Turkey state that “limited progress was achieved on political reforms in 2007”. In line, I have had to conclude in my resolutions that the reform process has neither been fast, nor effective. This is remarkable, as the new government that was established last summer, has a comfortable majority. It has the ability to make use of this strong parliamentary majority in order to resolutely pursue reforms.

Some positive developments were made, which are worth touching on. I would like to emphasise the recent adoption of the Law of Foundations by the Turkish parliament. This is a positive step forward. In addition, I would like to touch upon the recent amendment of Article 301 on the freedom of expression.

This is a change in an area where the EU demanded urgently the abolition of this article. The adoption of this amendment is a first step forward towards a fundamental reform of this article as well as other articles of the Penal Code which limit the freedom of expression.

However, with regard to the plans to develop a new constitution, so far progress towards establishing one has been too slow. Even though drafts have been circulating for months, none have officially been proposed to the Turkish parliament.

This is unfortunate, as a new, civilian constitution is the key opportunity to establish a sound system of checks and balances while guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, social cohesion and separation between religion and state. The protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms should be at the core of the constitution.

Of course, we should see the current developments in the light of the political turmoil caused by the elections in 2007, rendering it difficult for Turkish policy-makers to initiate reforms. However, respecting the difficulties Turkey has had to face, it should not prevent us from encouraging the Turkish government to fulfil all commitments regarding the individual freedoms.

We should urge them to establish a legal framework, in line with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, that enables all religious communities to function without undue constraints.

I am looking forward to further legislative and implementation steps in order to ensure that Turkey fully guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of religion enshrined in ECHR. These are crucial reforms that need to be carried out without delay.

The actual problem for Turkish society is found in a judiciary system that offers too much independence to impartial public prosecutors. It is problematic for Turkish society that the lifting of the ban on the headscarf in universities has been taken up as the first reform process.

The lifting of this ban does not present a problem to me, nor to the European Court of Justice, with regard to the content. It did lead to extra tensions and feelings of mistrust in a, sometimes very orthodox, secular part of Turkish society. These tensions have been taken up by resulting in a possible closure of the AK Party and is a process that causes significant political turmoil.

If the constitutive process would have been finished in due time and the pace of reforms towards a modern, democratic and prosperous society would have been pursued at steady pace, an attempt to close the country’s leading political party would have been impossible.

It is my opinion to conclude that the AK Party should present a positive perspective to the EU, while the government and all political parties should engage themselves constructively in seeking consensus on the important steps concerning the modernisation of the country.

AKP should carefully reflect so that it can continue with unified strength to abolish the tensions and mistrust about the secular character of Turkey. The commitment of Prime Minister Erdogan to making 2008 the year of the reforms is a welcome step forward in a process that is first and foremost in the interest of the Turkish citizens itself. After all, they are the ones that will benefit most.

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