European Parliament Adopts Draft Report on Turkey
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The European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee discussed the 2018 draft report on Turkey yesterday (February 21).
The resolution, with some amendments made by the committee, was adopted by 47 votes in favor, 7 against and with 10 abstentions.
The resolution, penned by EU Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri, calls the formal suspension of EU accession talks with Turkey and mentions the rights violations in the country.
The European Parliament General Assembly will vote on the draft report in the sessions between March 11 and 14. The Parliament's decisions are advisory and non-binding.
The resolution includes corruption, human rights violations, shut-down of 160 media organizations, violation of rights defenders' rights, including LGBTI organizations, imprisonment of businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala and Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, the increase in the asylum applications to the EU member states.
The resolution also points out the construction of the new İstanbul airport, which has been continuing since 2015. Underpinning that 38 workers died since the beginning of the construction, it criticizes the imprisonment of the workers who protest the poor working conditions.
The resolution says that a peaceful solution must be found for the rights violations in southeastern Turkey.
What does the draft report say?Customs Union While the report suggests suspending accession talks, it leaves the door open for the renewal of the Customs Union agreement as it could pave way for democratic reforms. Visa liberalization Stating that the visa liberalization carries great importance for the citizens of Turkey, the report demands that Ankara should abide by the EU's 72 criteria. State of emergency The report says that the state of emergency is practically continuing although it was lifted in July in 2018. It expresses concerns about setbacks in freedom of expression, freedom of gathering and the right to property. Detention and arrests The resolution expresses "deep concern" over 150 thousand people's detention and 78 thousand people's arrest because of charges related to terrorism and says that in most of these trials are continuing without concrete evidence. Repression of dissidents Members of the Parliament also raise the alarm about Turkish government actions against its own citizens abroad, including harassment, kidnappings, covert surveillance and setting up hotlines through which people are encouraged to report other citizens to the authorities back home. It expresses concern over the Religious Affairs Directorate's use as an intelligence agency and states that the Interpol cannot be used to target dissidents in from Turkey, human rights defenders and journalists. Passport cancelations The resolution says that cancelations of the passports of the relatives of suspects and detainees raise concern and demands that the cancelations which are not supported by judiciary decision should be lifted. Dismissals Regarding the dismissals of public officers, the resolution states that the State of Emergency Commission only gave positive replies to 7 applications and 81 thousand applications are still waiting. It says that the people who are dismissed face grave economic and other consequences and that they are stigmatized in social and professional life. Judiciary The resolution states that dismissal of more than 4 thousand judges and prosecutors threaten the independence and objectivity of the judiciary and that the arrest of 570 lawyers hinders the rights to defense and a fair trial. Asylum applications Since the beginning of the state of emergency after the July 2016 coup attempt, asylum applications from the citizens of Turkey has increased drastically, underpins the resolution. According to the European Asylum Support Office, Turkey ranks fifth in terms of the number of asylum applications to the EU countries. According to the figures from September 2018, there are more than 16 thousand asylum applications awaiting a decision. Rights defenders The resolution says that the EU member countries should increase support to the rights defenders, who are under risk. It calls Turkey to fully apply the EU regulations on the rights defenders. |
Turkey: Resolution is unacceptable
In reply to the voting at the European Parliament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Hami Aksoy said, "The call in the draft report, which is not legally binding and bears only the status of an advisory decision, to officially suspend our country's accession negotiations with the EU is absolutely unacceptable." (AS/VK)