Bonn 2009 EPP Summit: Biggest EU Political party starts to discuss Turkey's failure on commitments

*Bonn/Angelo Marcopolo/- While crucial EU decisions on Turkey's controversial EU bid and the consequences for an EU candidate to persistently disrespect its comitments, are prepared this week in view of Brussels' EU Summit, ,vartious Political Leaders, Top MEPs and Heads of State or Government from the largest Political Party in Europe, who has just won the 2009 EU Eections after a campain mainly calling to barr Turkey's EU demands,  started to react to EU Drafts prepared by Foreign Ministers.

Such moves included egven calls to EU President; Herman Van Rompuy, to come next week to Strasbourg to present to EU Citizens, via EU Parliament's Debates, his vision on Europe, (that some had described, when he was selected among several possible choices, as critical to Turkey's controversial EU bid).

    - "Cyprus' Government officially anounced its intention to "freeze'" 6more Chapte'rs on EU - Turkey Negoitiations, as long as Ankara persists to fail to apply the Ankara Pritocol, on ending Discrimination  against EU Member Cyprus' related Ships and Airplanes, observed EPP's co-Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Cyprus' former Foreign Minister, Top Presidential Candidate, EuroMP Ioanis Kasulides, speaking to '"EuroFora".

    - Evern if this does not include the Environment Chapter, due to open this December, on which Cyprus has no objections", nevertheless,  this means that at least 2 more chapters will be blocked, starting by the Energy Chapter, which was scheduled to open in around March 2010," he added to "EuroFora". All this is linked to Cyprus'-related Turkey's commitmentss undertakenn vis a vis the EU, on which EU Council will establish a kind of Monitoring on Turkey's obligations, Kasulides concluded.

    - "What is important is that Turkey's commitments on Cyprus, Human Rights, Greece, etc. are mainly linked wirh the EU Negotiations process, and not with the sole issue of Ankara's controversial aim for an eventual Accession into the EU, Kasulides stressed.

    But, what Turkey should do is to help to ffinr a mutually acceptable Solution, because its current positions don't lead towards that direction, he observed.

    Various other Political Parties in Cyprus reportedy denounced the lack of any immediate Sanction on Turkey as a major setback on previous EU's decisions which had set December 2009 as the date to check the credibility of Ankara on commitments it undertook back in 2005 in order to become able to start EU negoitiations.

    But Anastassiades, the current President of Cyprus' EPP party (opposition), after launching a call for the EU to convince Turkey to help solve Cyprus' issue on the basis of EU and UNO SC's  decisions,  said to "EuroFora", that he personally preferred to "avoid extreme positions which  might provoke setbacks", and believed that, with serious and responsible work, it could have better resuilts, mainly on a just solution.

 - "I am very disappointed that Turkey does not implement the Ankara Protokol" (on ending the discrimination against Cyprus' related Ships and Airplanes), strressed former EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert- POETTERING, who led German ChristianDemocrat MEPs to a brillant Electoral win in 2009 EU Elections, by making it cear that it refuses Turkey's con'troversial EU bid.

- And, "as long as this is the case, there is no real improvement in the relations between EU and Turkey", contrary to Ankara's propaganda, Poettering concluded.
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    Enlargement (in general) is one of the great EU success, although now, Enlargement - fatigue is visible. So, we have to continue Enlargement on the basis of strict Conditionality", stressed to "EuroFora" the leader od ChristianDemocrats in Slovakia, former EU Commissioner, Jan Figel.  

    As far as Turkey is concerned, in particular, EU Negotiations are an "Open-ended process. There ara no automatic answers or solutions.

    But, "when we look into all current issues which are criticized, or evidently Problematic in this (EU - Turkey) process, I think that Comitments from the side of Turkish Authorities are needed.  'That's why, "the idea of Privileged Partnership, between EU and Turkey, may clearly and realistically, reflect one of the potential answers, if it's not able to complete conditions in full", concluded Figel, astonishingly close to the new German Government Coalition's agreed stance.
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    New Greek EPP leader, former Strasbourg's MEP and Foreign Minister, Antonis Samaras, also started to think that EU should now advance further than the previous stance of "full respect of commitments, full accession" principle : Several EU Countries have started to think that Turkey's unwillingness to respect EU obligations, and its refusal even to recognize an EU Member State, as Cyprus, would be incompatible with its controversial EU bid. We must talk with them, he reportedly added, (while, fex. preparing a possible meeting in Bonn with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
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    - "The problem with Turkey is that it doesn't respect core European Values, such as Freedom of Press and Religion, Prohibition of Torture, accountability of murderers, etc". Therefore, envisage Enlargement to Turkey can damage EU Values, citically observed a German MEP to "EuroFora".

    Meanwhile, such critical observations coincided with French MEP, from the Governing UMP Party, Jean-Pierre  Audy's call "for EU Council's President, Herman Van Rompuy, to come next week in Strasbourg to present to EU Citizens his vision of Europe", as he stressed to "EuroFora" in Bonn.

    - "On January 2010 EU Parliament will focus on New EU Commissioners' endorsment, while now, on December 2009, the Agenda is not so full,  and. Van Rompuy has already been politically appointed and legally invested with the powers given by Lisbon Treaty since December 1st'", he observed.
"Therefore, I  don't understand why he doesn't come in EU Parliament now, to simply present to EU Citizens what is his vision for Europe, the French mainstream MEP concluded, pointing, precisely, at the direction of the alleged refusal, by Van Rompuy, of Turkey's controversial EU bis in the Past, which reportedly was abused by a British Socialist Press, at the moment of his apointment by EU Council, in order to claim, in "exchange"' for the UK Socialists the post of EU Foreign Minister.
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- EU Parliament's Rapporteur, Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten, speaking to "EuroFora", also   denounced the fact that "Turkey has not respected its commitments".

After all these years, including the December 2009 rendez-vous, spend without result, now, "Turkey has to deliver immediately", the experienced EU Rapporteur warned.

On EU Council of Ministers' results on Turkey, earlier this weelk, the EU Parliament's Rapporteur said that they roughly followed what she advises in her 2009 Draft  Resolution on Turkey, and anounced that she expects it to be debated in Public and adopted by MEPs "on Februarky or March 2010", i.e. near the time of materialization of Cyprus' 1st threat (See supra).

According to the Draft Resolution, EU Parliament denounces from the outset the fact that "Turkey has committed itself to reforms, Good Neighbourly Relations and progressive alignment with the EU", but "Turkey has still not, for the 4rth consecutive year, implemented the provisions stemming from the EC-Turkey Association Agreement and the Additional Protocol thereto", as far as Cyprus-related Ships and Airplanes are concerned;

=> Therefore, the draft Resolution "deplores th(is) fact", "Calls on the Turkish Government to implement it fully without delay, in a non-discriminatory way, and recalls that failure to do so may further SERIOUSLY AFFECT the process of negotiations", as it had already warned last year.

-  Concerning "Commitments to good neighbourly relations", the Resolution "Calls on the Turkish Government actively to support the ongoing negotiations, and to contribute in concrete terms to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue, based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, in line with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the Principles on which the EU is founded". It also "calls on Turkey to facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by withdrawing its forces".

+ Moreover, going a step further than what it had done in the Past, the draft Resolution "calls on the Turkish Government to cease hindering civilian vessels prospecting for Oil on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean". But, in an obvious Contradiction, it also  "calls for opening of the Energy chapter in the accession (sic) negotiations"...

 It also "Urges Turkey to ensure that the Rights of all DISPLACED persons in Cyprus are respected, including those of Religious minorities, and they are allowed freely to exercise their religious rights; stresses that, in the case of the Catholic Maronite community, freedoms should also be accorded to all 4 Maronite villages".

- EU Parliament, "regrets, however, that the NATO-EU strategic cooperation extending beyond the ‘Berlin plus’ arrangements continues to be blocked by Turkey's objections", related to Ankara's claims on Cyprus, "which has Negative consequences for the protection of the EU personnel deployed, and urges Turkey to set aside those objections as soon as possible"

Vis a vis Greece,  EU Parliament's draft Resolution critically  "takes note of the limited progress achieved in improving Turkish-Greek bilateral relations; calls on the Turkish Grand National Assembly to withdraw its casus belli threat, and expects the Turkish Government to end the continued violations of Greek airspace".
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    - "the opening" of the EU - Turkey "Negotiations was the starting-point for a long-lasting and Open-ended process", (i.e. which could end up into a "Privileged Partership"), the EU Rapporteur stressed.

    But, EU Parliament "notes that progress in terms of concrete reforms has remained LIMITED in 2009", "Deplores the fact that, where legislation relevant to the Copenhagen political criteria is in place, its implementation continues to be insufficient, particularly in the area of women's rights,
non-discrimination, zero tolerance of Torture and the fight against corruption".

    In particular, among other critical points, the EU draft Resolution for 2009 :

- "Concerned about continued restrictions on press freedom, particularly ...regarding frequent Website bans, (it) stresses that ...in light of the
Unhealthy links between media and business interests, a new media law be adopted".

- "Is concerned that the Turkish legal framework still fails to provide sufficient guarantees with regard to Freedom of Expression and that certain
laws continue to be misused so as to restrict that freedom; calls on the Turkish Government to come up with a reform of the legal framework in order to
ensure its compatibility with the ECHR and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights; is of the view that Article 301 of the Penal Code should be repealed".

+ It also "calls on the Turkish Government to intensify its efforts with regard to implementation of the policy of zero tolerance of Torture, and, in order to
underscore the credibility of those efforts, to authorise the publication of the report of the CoE's Committee for  the Prevention of Torture". Moreover,
"once again CoE urges the Turkish Grand National Assembly to ratify the Optional Protocol on the UN Convention against Torture; also urges the
Government to strive for reduction of Impunity for human rights violations, in particular among law enforcement officials".

- " Is concerned about the closure case pending against the Democratic Society Party (DTP) before the Constitutional Court, draws attention to the opinion presented by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in March 2009, which concluded that Turkish legislation governing the closure of political parties is not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and urges the Government to come up with necessary reform proposals, respecting European standards".

- "Is of the view that a comprehensive and swift reform of the judiciary is vital ...in Turkey".

- "is concerned by the continuing involvement of the Military in Turkish politics and foreign policy, and reiterates that in a democratic society the military
must be fully subject to civilian oversight; calls in particular on the Turkish Grand National Assembly enhance its oversight of the military budget and expenditure and to engage in the development of security and defence policies".

- "urges the Government to ....ensure real opportunities to learn Kurdish within the public and private Schooling system, allowing for Kurdish to be used
in political life and in access to public services",

and "calls on the Government to make sure that anti-terror laws are not misused to restrict fundamental freedoms, and to abolish the system of village guards in the southeast".

- "gestures cannot mask the lack of real reform of the legal framework, which must enable .. religious communities to function without undue constraints, in line with the ECHR and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights", EU
Rapporteur adds.

- "regrets, .. that the  religious communities continue to face property problems not addressed by that law, concerning properties seized and sold to
third parties or properties of foundations merged  before the new legislation was adopted", and, therefore, "urges the Turkish Government to address this
issue without delay".

- "Deplores the fact that the Turkish Government continues to maintain reservations, ... regarding the rights of Minorities, that it has not yet
signed relevant Council of Europe conventions and that it has not yet entered into dialogue with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities". It
"urges the Government to bring its policy fully into line with international standards and the ECHR, ...; in addition, urges the Government actively to foster a climate of full respect towards minorities, and to ensure that cases of hostility and violence are brought before the courts".

- On Social Dumping, EU's text "Regrets the lack of progress concerning Trade Union rights and calls once again on the Turkish ..Assembly to adopt a new law on trade unions that is in line with the International Labour Organization standards".

However, in an obvious Contradiction with EU's wish to enhance its image in the World as defender of Human Rights' values, the draft also asks British Baroness Ashton, as new "EU´s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to analyse synergies between the EU´s and Turkey´s foreign policies and to make more intensive use of them in order to contribute to security and stability in the world"..