Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-01-Speech-3-126"
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"en.19991201.10.3-126"2
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"Mr President, at a time when the European Parliament is deciding on new forms of support for Turkey, we would like to point out that we are amongst those who say that Turkey must be helped and deserves to be helped in its process of transition to full democracy. I would even go so far as to say that the European Union should encourage cooperation between its Member States and Turkey. The reports that we are debating here today nevertheless give us the opportunity to reflect once again on Turkey’s progress in terms of human rights and the protection of minorities. In this context, we were extremely concerned to hear of the confirmation by the Supreme Court in Turkey of the death sentence on Öçalan.
I am a Member of the European Parliament for Portugal, a country that abolished the death penalty as long ago as the 19th Century. We were, moreover, the first European Union country to do so. Personally, I reject this form of punishment, both out of conviction and because I do not think that it achieves any of the aims that punishment seeks to achieve. Consequently, we feel that it would now be timely to give yet another very clear signal that the preservation of human rights and the protection of minorities in Turkey are still an essential condition for the European Parliament to show its solidarity in terms of cooperation and support for that country.
Mr President, I would like to point out that just yesterday, here in Strasbourg, the European Court of Human Rights accepted a request for a stay of execution for Öçalan whilst it examines the case. I was also pleased to read that President Nicole Fontaine reacted speedily to the confirmation of this sentence and I also read that she would intervene with the President of the Turkish National Assembly in order that it should not confirm the carrying out of the death sentence. I do not know if she was able to obtain any guarantees from him or not. My feeling is that the European Parliament should look with the utmost caution at developments, not just in this case but also in Turkey’s human rights situation, and in the protection of its minorities, and this caution should be matched with an equal degree of firmness.
To this effect, tomorrow I shall propose – contrary to what others here appear to think should be done – that we postpone voting on the two reports until a later sitting, and I would therefore ask the President of the European Parliament on behalf of the institution over which she presides, to formulate a clear request to the Helsinki European Council that if the decision by the Turkish authorities stands, the Council should adopt a firm position with regard to Turkey’s application to join the European Union. I think that only in this way will the European Parliament be effectively and unambiguously defending principles and values rather than just stating them."@en1
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