Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-13-Speech-4-181"

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"Mr President, in Helsinki, the EU countries confirmed Turkey’s status as a candidate state. The Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party supported this proposal. We hope that we shall one day be able to welcome Turkey into the Community. We believe that this message gives an important signal to the Turkish people. But – and it is an important but – before negotiations can begin, a good many changes are required in Turkey, especially with regard to human rights. Many of us had hoped for improvements in this area. It is therefore all the more distressing to study all the reports about atrocities which arrive on an almost daily basis. Turkey has signed international agreements on human rights but, as has become bitterly apparent to journalists, writers, human rights activists and opposition politicians, these are not observed. We in the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party wish especially to express our concern about the chairman of Turkey’s Human Rights Foundation, Akin Birdal. He had scarcely received a just trial and had been sentenced on flimsy grounds. Following a period of freedom, he has again been imprisoned and is being denied the proper medical care he needs following the severe injuries he suffered in the attempt on his life in 1998. He must be released immediately. In the EU, we are proud not merely to be an economic club. The EU is a Union founded upon values, respect for human rights, democracy and the principles of the constitutional state. Everyone, both existing and future members, must respect these criteria. Unfortunately, Turkey still has a long way to go."@en1

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