European Parliament Issues Motion on EU-Turkey Relations to Be Voted Tomorrow

Click to read the article in Turkish

Following the European Parliament's session on Turkey, the motion drafts of political groups were discussed. The final motion issued today (November 23), will be voted tomorrow (November 24).

In the motion, is has been pointed out that Paragraph 5 of the Negotiating Framework stipulated that "in the case of a serious and persistent breach in Turkey of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law on which the Union is founded, the Commission will, on its own initiative or on the request of one third of the Member States, recommend the suspension of negotiations and propose the conditions for eventual resumption".

What is in the motion?

The European Union in the final version of the motion has condemned "the disproportionate repressive measures taken in Turkey since the failed military coup attempt in July 2016". It has also calls on the Commission and on the Member States to initiate a temporary freeze of the on-going accession negotiations with Turkey.

In addition, the motion also declares that the Parliament would "review its position when the disproportionate measures under the state of emergency in Turkey are lifted; would base its review on whether the rule of law and human rights are restored throughout the country.

Noting that the "re-introduction of the capital punishment by the Turkish government would have to lead to a formal suspension of the accession process", the notion pointed out that Turkey has not yet fulfilled 7 out of 72 benchmarks of the visa liberalisation roadmap.

The motion calls on the Commission "to reflect on the latest developments in Turkey in the mid-term review report of IPA foreseen in 2017" and asked the Commission to "examine the possibility of increasing support to Turkish civil society from the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights".

Motion advisory for the European Union

The European Parliament discussed on freezing the on-going accession negotiations with Turkey in the session "EU-Turkey Relations".

The joint motion for a resolution on EU-Turkey relations will be put to vote tomorrow (November 24).

The Parliament alone is not authorized to freeze, suspend or to stop the negotiations.

The final decision will be made by the leaders of the European Union who will gather in December. The Motion on the other hand can influence the decision to be made in the meeting of the European Union. (AS/DG)

Click to read here to read the full motion.