Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-255"
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"en.20030513.11.2-255"2
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"Mr President, I too should like, on behalf of the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party, to express our great disappointment at the search made of the human rights office and take strong exception to this event. I agree, however, with Mr Ceyhun that we must be cautious in our interpretation of it.
As the Commissioner mentioned, we are in fact seeing an express desire for reform in Turkey and a desire to comply with the political criteria, as required if the country is to embark upon negotiations concerning EU membership. We saw this with the amendments to the constitution last August, when the death penalty was abolished in peace-time and a series of other freedoms was established. Further reforms are on the way, moreover. I myself took part in the Turkish National Assembly’s symposium at the end of April when it was discussed what changes there needed to be to the Turkish legal system if it were to comply with the political criteria. What I witnessed was an objective and open debate, in which, for example, legal experts and representatives of the judiciary provided clear and incisive descriptions of the reforms that would guarantee the independence of the courts and the observance of fundamental human rights. If the National Assembly follows the good advice and adopts reforms that guarantee the independence of a legal system that is also in accordance with human rights, Turkey will be another step on the way towards negotiating for accession to the EU, and – just as importantly – the Turkish population will be guaranteed the fundamental and democratic rights I believe they really desire.
The fact of the matter is, of course, that it is not enough to amend legislation if changes do not also take place in practice. We should then be back to square one, as the Commissioner emphasised, and I think it important that we emphasise this. It is therefore very sad that we continue to receive reports of torture in Turkish prisons and of other infringements of human rights, including violations of freedom of expression. The events of 6 May unfortunately show that there are still forces in Turkish society that either do not understand the need for changes or do not approve of them and who act on that basis. This is unacceptable.
Turkey is a very complex country with many different cultures. It is also a very dynamic country with major resources and a lot of talent, and continued cooperation between the EU and Turkey is in the interests of both Turkey and the EU. Membership of the EU requires, however, that specific principles be observed. We often hear Turkish politicians say that tougher demands are being made upon Turkey than upon other countries where accession to the EU is concerned. This is not the case. The ten countries that are to accede in May 2004 have had to implement difficult reforms for which there was often little grass-roots support and which were also opposed internally. For all countries, democracy is a process, and we need to be on our guard against human rights violations and any imbalance between institutions."@en1
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