Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-26-Speech-2-234"
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"en.20060926.24.2-234"2
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"Mr President, problems cannot be solved unless they are addressed. Glossing over the issue never does any good. Mr Eurlings describes very precisely the aspects connected with Turkey that run contrary to the spirit of Europe. I should like to thank him for his report. In fact, virtually no progress has been made there in almost all the politically relevant fields – and in some cases the situation has even deteriorated. Not a single one of the political Copenhagen criteria has been met to date. Nevertheless, against all the rules, negotiations were opened. What we feared last year has come true. By opening accession negotiations, we have let go of one of the last means of exerting pressure to force reform. The process of reform has petered out. Either governmental bodies have failed to implement at all or failed to implement properly reforms that had already been decided on, or – as happened recently – such reforms have been withdrawn by parliamentary decisions. For example, the Turkish Parliament adopted the new Anti-Terror Law despite vehement protests from the Commission, resulting in a further curtailment of the already limited freedom of expression and of the press.
The Prime Minister of Turkey is using the EU process for his own ends and attempting to Islamise the country by stealth. By doing so, he is playing into the hands of the nationalists, who vehemently oppose Europeanisation. Does Prime Minister Erdoğan even want the country to join the EU? At all events, his refusal to recognise Cyprus underlines the fact that he does not accept the EU. Is this kind of candidate acceptable? Cyprus is a litmus test. If Turkish politicians do not give way on this, the negotiations must be discontinued. Turkey is now under obligation – without any ifs and buts and without imposing any new conditions or demands. The Commission must make this a mission, and the Council of Ministers, too, must demand the fulfilment of and enforce Turkey’s obligation at long last. Anything else would be unfair to the Turkish people, who are pinning their hopes on us. It is only our pressure that will effect change. If we Europeans fall down again, we shall be forever a laughing stock that no one can take seriously. Then nothing will change in that country."@en1
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