Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-20-Speech-3-333"
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"en.20100120.18.3-333"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner Rehn, thank you for remaining with us at this late hour to discuss democratisation in Turkey, a subject on which you have done a great deal of work, for which I thank you.
I believe that there were very many of us who, when the government announced its democratic initiative, its democratic opening-up, recognised just how bold a step this was and, at the same time, believed that this huge ambition represented a long road ahead, a road that would probably be full of pitfalls; the pitfalls appeared fairly quickly.
The first act, as you said, was the dissolution of the DTP, but I also note that, alongside the ban on the DTP, the ban on engaging in political activity, which affects several elected members of its party, also eliminates the figures who were most heavily involved in the democratic and political dialogue to resolve the Kurdish issue. This leaves a question mark hanging over this decision.
Next, there is also this wave of arrests which, today, are genuinely removing political leaders and therefore also the spokesmen on this Kurdish issue. Yet the Kurdish issue is central to the democratisation process in Turkey! Primarily because it is systemic, because it represents many years of suffering, violence, conflict and war, the tragic scars of which are still in evidence today; and these scars are also economic, social, cultural and political.
This Kurdish issue is also placing a huge strain on the democratisation process. It is placing a strain on freedom of expression, on freedom of the press, on the rights of citizens and on the fight against torture. And when I see today how anti-terrorism legislation is being used as a cover for political reprisals, I say that now really is the time when we have to support the government and expect it to take another extremely ambitious initiative to emerge from this situation because, as we know, not all the established groups in Turkey are interested in a democratic settlement of the Kurdish issue. We are well aware of this fact, as we have been since the beginning.
Therefore, Turkey now needs our support, our unfailing support in this process of democratisation. My fellow Member, Mrs in ’t Veld, is right to say that this unfailing support must include the renewal of that promise of membership once the democratisation process has been completed; it is absolutely crucial to say this.
Next, the government will eventually have to produce reforms, which will inevitably have to lead to a new draft constitution. Immediate reforms will obviously relate to legislation on political parties. They will also relate to electoral reform – as a matter of extreme urgency – and to the independence of the judicial system. These fundamental pillars for a democratic state in Turkey must now be courageously and determinedly promoted by the Turkish Government.
Moreover, this government must also implement initiatives to encourage consensus and reconciliation, because polarisation of society and of the political forces in Turkey would have a disastrous effect on the search for the consensus needed for the adoption of a new constitution, which we are all hoping for."@en1
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