The European Council Reconsiders Turkey’s Status

Emphasizing the AKP closure case in its latest report, the European Council proposes that Turkey goes back to being monitored. The EU expert Aktar says “the reaction is not new, the relations with the EU are at the point of stalling.”

Erhan Üstündağ

The European Council Reconsiders Turkey’s Status

Dr. Cengiz Aktar, the European Union (EU) expert, said that the European Council which proposed that the EU should start monitoring Turkey in matters of democracy and human rights “placed Turkey in the category of banana republics.”

The report that was accepted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting at Strasbourg yesterday says that there are problems regarding the democratic operation in Turkey, pointing to the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Aktar said that “the European side” has been showing its discontent regarding the closure case since March 14 and now the PACE has joined this group as well.

Emphasizing that the start of the monitoring process takes time, Aktar said, “Voicing this wish itself is bad enough.”

Even if they start monitoring Turkey again, this will technically not affect the negotiations with the EU. “The relations are”, indicated Aktar, “already about to stop anyways.”

The draft of the report

The final EC text was not published at the time Bianet was preparing this report.

The summary of the topics stated in the draft that was prepared by Luc Van den Brande, a member of the European People’s Party Group made up of Christian Democrats is as follows:

The monitoring Committee is concerned that regardless of its outcome, the closure case against AKP has opened the way to the postponement of the urgent economic and political reforms, since this case affects the political stability in the country and the democratic operation of the state institutions very much.
The independence of judiciary needs to be respected and the Constitutional Court should not be pressured.
Supporting government’s efforts for a new and civil constitution, the committee wants this process to be completed in close collaboration with Venice Commission.

“Fine until 2007, crisis after that”

Following the previous reforms that were put into effect by Turkey, the PACE had ended monitoring Turkey in 2004 and stressed its belief that the government was going to continue with the reform process.

“The PACE is pleased that the government has been implementing reforms in the fields of politics and economic growth and because of these reforms, investors’ trust in Turkey has increased with the changes in macro economic stability and privatizations; and the negotiations with the EU started in 2005.”

Stating that a political crisis ensued in the country with the presidential elections in 2007, the report stresses that after July 22 the current parliament has the power to represent, although it has not removed the ten percent election threshold.

The report indicates that the constitutional amendment that freed headscarf in the universities caused another political crisis and that the continuing discussions in Turkey show that there is no consensus over party closures.(EÜ/EZÖ/TB)