Europees rapport: Turkije valt terug bij politiek hervormingsproces
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Almost one year after the EU partially froze Turkey's membership talks, little reform progress has been made by Ankara in key areas, with the European Commission i in a fresh report urging Ankara "to renew the momentum of political reforms."
A commission draft report to be published on Tuesday (6 November) - seen by EUobserver - concludes that "the implementation of reforms was uneven and has slowed down since 2005" when Turkey kicked off EU i accession negotiations.
"Turkey now needs to renew the momentum of political reforms. Significant further efforts are needed in particular on freedom of expression, on civilian control of the military, and on the rights of non-Muslim communities," says the paper.
Last year, EU member states agreed to suspend eight chapters of Turkey's 35-chapter EU negotiations package, sanctioning Ankara for its continuing blockade on traffic from EU member state Cyprus - which is illegal under an EU-Turkey customs agreement.
The commission notes that since then Turkey has made "no progress on normalising bilateral relations" with Nicosia.
'Self-censorship'
The commission report also says restrictions in freedom of speech remain a "cause of serious concern," although it acknowledges that an open debate on several sensitive issues continued in Turkey's media over the past year.
The EU executive highlights the notorious article 301 of Turkey's recently adopted penal code, which criminalizes insults against "Turkishness", with the report saying the frequent use of the article has created a climate of "self-censorship in the country," even among academics.
Brussels concludes that "the Turkish legal system does not fully guarantee freedom of expression in line with European standards."
Army still plays political role
Assessing the overall state of Turkish democracy, the commission notes that the constitutional crisis in Turkey this spring - which saw a clash between the government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan and army generals on the nomination of a new president - "reaffirmed the primacy of democratic process."
But its report also points out that "the armed forces continue to exercise significant political influence," in Turkey, particularly through public statements by senior generals on issues such as Cyprus, secularism and the Kurdish question.
Similarly, "no progress" was seen in the area of protection of minorities and ensuring cultural diversity in line with EU principles, the commission says.
"Children whose mother tongue is not Turkish cannot learn their mother tongue in the Turkish public schooling system," the document says, adding that particularly strict restrictions remain on the Kurdish language.
Non-Muslim religious communities "continued to face problems such as restricted property rights " while the legal framework guaranteeing gender equality is in place but needs to be "translated into social reality," according to the report.
The commission concludes that the "atmosphere" in Turkey surrounding minorities and religious issues has "not been conducive to the full respect of fundamental rights and might de facto restrict their exercise."
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