President Dimitriadis spreekt steun uit voor het hervormingsproces in Turkije (en)

CES/08/35

Brussels, 15 April 2008

President Dimitriadis expresses support to the reform process taking place in Turkey

On 10-11 April 2008, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has organised in Istanbul the 24^th meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee (JCC). This meeting gathering civil society organisations from the EU and Turkey in order to follow the accession negotiations from a civil society point of view, was attended by EESC President Dimitris Dimitriadis, Mr Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, and the Turkish Minister of State for women and family affairs.

In his opening speech the President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr Abdullah Gul, underlined the key role that the JCC is playing in the accession process in being a bridge between civil society in the EU and Turkey. Mr Abdullah Gül recognised that Turkey still needed reform and that the reform process was requested by Turkish society. "The real challenge for Turkey’s accession process is to get the support of the entire population, and this can only be done through the assistance and cooperation of civil society organisations", said Mr Gul.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who attended the meeting on the second day, also pointed out that the decrease of confidence of Turkish citizens towards Turkey’s accession to the EU could only be countered through better communication and the involvement of civil society organisations. Mr Erdo?an, underlined that Turkey was a country of opportunities, built on democracy and secularity, stressing that: "Turkey has to be a social state governed by the rule of law. Civil society organisations are fundamental to protect democracy and their opinions on the governments policies are ensuring better decision making."

The President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Dimitris Dimitriadis, expressed his support for the reform process that is currently taking place in Turkey. Mr Dimitriadis emphasisized the importance of searching for a broad consensus between the Turkish government and Turkish civil society on constitutional and institutional reforms.

During the meeting several topics of specific concern for civil society organisations in Turkey and the EU were discussed, including lifelong learning aspects of the Lisbon strategy, youth and employment in the framework of the European employment strategy and visa procedures.

For information: the EU-Turkey JCC is an official body bringing together representatives of organised civil society in the EU (via the EESC) and Turkey. Its members come from diverse economic and social interest groups representing civil society in the various countries.