'There is a deliberate regression from democratic standards in Turkey'

Photo: Dursun Aydemir / AA

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The European Parliament (EP) Turkey session was held yesterday (June 6) in Strasbourg, France to discuss the EP's "2021 Turkey Report".

Turkey rapporteur of the EP, Nacho Sánchez Amor who prepared the report said, "there is a 'deliberate regression' from democratic standards in Turkey."

"At the heart of the report lies the current disastrous state of democratic standards in Turkey. Even more seriously, this is not only a matter of its poor state but the consolidated tendency to worsen." Amor said.

"Other authoritarian systems are authoritarian because they have not matured sufficiently from their dictatorial pasts, or because they have slowed down or stopped their democratizing impulse. This is not Turkey's case. Rather, Turkey's case concerns a more deliberate regression from a better situation."

Amor drew attention to the lawsuits filed against the members and MPs of the People's Democratic Party (HDP).

"In a few months, it is likely that the third party in the country, the HDP, voted by almost 6 million Turkish citizens, and which won almost mayorships is illegalized. All of that is just to go to elections with fewer obstacles," he said.

"If those future elections confirm this tendency, I personally can not believe that the accession process can survive for another five years."

Amor also touched upon the Russian invasion of Ukraine which started on February 24 and Turkey's relations with Russia since then.

"It (Turkey) is expressly inviting Kremlin kleptocrats to enjoy and invest on the Turkish coast; it is issuing credit cards to thousands of Russian citizens."

"Taking all together, these measures amount to something that looks very much like a system for bypassing sanctions."

"It is obvious that Turkey, with its irresponsible (NATO) veto to Sweden and Finland, is making a coveted gift to the Kremlin."

My speech today at the plenary debate on the #Turkey report that will be voted tomorrow. The @Europarl_EN won't remain silent in front of the latest violations of fundamental freedoms, no matter what geopolitical role ???????? plays. https://t.co/foXlNqDrQb

— Nacho Sánchez Amor (@NachoSAmor) June 6, 2022

About the report

The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the report on Turkey on May 12.

The report notes that "there has been no improvement in fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law" in Turkey.

"Without clear and significant progress in EU-related reforms, Parliament cannot envisage resuming accession negotiations with Turkey," said the report.

"MEPs warn that in spite of Turkey's repeated declarations on the objective of EU accession, over the past two years the country has consistently gone back on its commitments in relation to the accession process."

The report also touched on Turkey's failure to release Osman Kavala, a businessperson, and a rights defender, despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling.

"The report points to the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in Turkey. MEPs also regret the sustained legal and administrative pressure that the Turkish government is putting on civil society and human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists. They call on the Commission to provide, through relevant financial instruments, sufficient funding for pro-democracy efforts in Turkey."

" MEPs conclude that the Parliament cannot at this stage justify modifying its position concerning the formal suspension of the accession negotiations with Turkey, which have effectively been at a standstill since 2018."

" By openly defying the binding rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the case of Osman Kavala and others, the current Turkish Government has deliberately demolished any aspirations of reopening the EU accession process at this time."

The report also said that "there has been a slight improvement in overall EU-Turkey relations."

"MEPs welcome the recent high-level dialogues and call for the suspended high-level political dialogue as well as a number of other sectoral dialogues to be unblocked. However, this enhanced cooperation has unfortunately coexisted alongside regular conflicts, as relations with neighboring EU member states remain challenging." 

CLICK - European Parliament adopts Turkey report: 'Persistently further from EU values'

(SD/TB)