"Politieke vrijheden en mensenrechten nog onvoldoende om Turkije toe te laten treden tot EU" (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With only months to go before the Commission is due to give its opinion on Turkish EU membership, the EU says there are still concerns over Turkish human rights standards.

A joint report - agreed on by the EU - is deeply critical of some aspects of Turkey's human rights laws and express concerns about implementation in other areas.

The report is due to be presented to the Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gül today (18 May) when he visits Brussels for regular talks with the EU.

Turkey has been an EU candidate for decades, but still has a long way to go before living up to the criteria set for members of the EU club, the position paper points out.

"In spite of the reforms, there are still a great number of provisions which could be interpreted so as to unduly restrict the exercise of fundamental freedoms", says the document.

Civil control of the military

The report is also critical of the role of the Turkish military and presses for civil control, aligned with the practise in EU member states.

It also says the Turkish parliament must exert full control of defence expenditure.

While welcoming the adoption of a further constitutional reform package by the Turkish parliament on 7 May as "another significant step forward", the report calls for effective implementation of the reforms.

With its sprawling geographical size and weak administration, Turkey has long had difficulties implementing decisions taken in Ankara in the whole of the country.

Since revisions were made on the status of languages other than Turkish, only three schools have started Kurdish language courses and there is still no broadcasting in languages other than Turkish.

As regards freedom of religion the Turkish non-Muslim communities still suffer problems as regards property rights, the report says.

The European Union also notices that "internally displaced persons" suffer economic and social problems in the Southeast, a predominantly Kurdish area.

On the list of positive developments is the banning in all circumstances of the death penalty. But on the negative side the European Union says that it "understands that there are persisting cases of ill-treatment and torture in custody".

Leyla Zana

The also EU expresses deep disappointment with the decision taken on 21 April by the Ankara State Security Court in the retrial of Leyla Zana.

The Kurdish woman was elected to serve her Kurdish constituency in the Turkish parliament in 1991. She openly identified herself as a Kurd and was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The European Parliament awarded her its Sakharov Prize in 1995.

Economic success

But while the criticism on human rights is still grave, Turkey is scoring well in the economic spheres.

"Productivity-led output growth has remained significantly stronger than expected (5.8% in 2003 after the 7.8% increase in 2002). Inflation continues to decline, notes the report.

Such economic development is something many EU finance ministers can only dream of seeing in their own countries.

Turkey must however ensure effective implementation of anti-corruption measures and establish an anti-corruption unit within the prime ministry, the EU also points out.

40 years

Today's report is an early indication of what might be the content of the report that will be written by the European Commission in autumn.

On the basis of this report the European Council of heads of state and governments will decide in December 2004, whether accession negotiations with Turkey can start.

This will come 40 years after the first agreement between the EU and Turkey - the so-called Ankara Agreement - came into force on 1 December 1964.