Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-12-Speech-3-244"
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"en.20050112.13.3-244"2
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"The Council points out that, within the framework of the Accession Partnership revised and adopted in May 2003, one of the things that Turkey must do is to create the conditions in which non-Muslim religious communities are able to operate properly, and this in accordance with the practice in force in the Member States of the European Union. Although religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, as indicated by the European Commission in its 2004 Regular Report, non-Muslim religious communities, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate, continue, however, to encounter obstacles and are subject to a bureaucratic regime.
In spite of the progress achieved in this area, the problems of the legal status of non-Muslim communities, of the registration of property ownership and of the training of the clergy remain unresolved at the present stage. The new overall legislation needed to remedy these problems is being prepared. In this connection, a government bill on foundations is at present being examined by the Turkish Government.
The Turkish authorities have recently indicated that they would invite the Commission to formulate its observations on this bill, something which constitutes a very positive development. The honourable Member is aware that the European Council decided on 17 December that Turkey sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria for accession negotiations to be opened on condition that it brought into force the six legislative texts designated by the Commission. The European Council invited the Commission to present the Council with a proposal relating to a framework for negotiations with Turkey on the basis of the factors listed in the Presidency’s conclusions adopted at the end of its meeting. The Council was then invited to reach an agreement on this framework with a view to opening the negotiations on 3 October 2005 in accordance with the procedures indicated in the European Council’s conclusions.
The effective and overall implementation of the process of political reforms will continue to be carefully monitored by the Commission. All the contentious issues listed in the Commission’s Periodic Report and recommendation, including that of freedom of religion, will be tackled in the reports to be submitted periodically by the Commission to the Council."@en1
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