Turkey sees no obstacle for opening of EU talks

The EU Commission will release a progress report on Turkey’s reform efforts on October 6. The report will largely shape a decision in December of the EU leaders on whether or not to start the accession talks with Ankara.

Turkish authorities are in touch with the EU Commission in the run-up to release of the report and issues mostly regarding freedoms and military-civilian relations are the main headlines in discussions, officials at the Secretariat- General for EU Affairs, affiliated to the Foreign Ministry, said yesterday.

The Commission will assess Turkey’s reforms with a view to measure compliance with the so-called Copenhagen criteria. Having accomplished the major portion of legal reforms, with the main exception being the ongoing preparations for a Turkish Penal Code (TCK), talks with the EU Commission concentrate on religious freedoms, freedom of expression, military-civilian relations, cultural rights and the situation in the southeastern Anatolia, a reference to discrepancies in the level of development between the region and the rest of Turkey.

A new TCK draft is expecting parliamentary approval. According to Justice Ministry officials, the efforts to complete the draft bill are nearing to end. An extensive training program is also underway in the Justice Ministry to prepare the Ministry personnel for the changed codes.

The new TCK is expected to go into force in January 2005 after completion of the parliamentary approval process.

Officials of the Secretariat are confident that legislative steps so far taken to curb military influence in the political sphere are sufficient to meet the European standards. Turkish Parliament has approved reforms to increase number of civilians in the previously military-dominated National Security Council (MGK) and introduce civilian supervision over military expenditures. Turkey has also decided recently to appoint a civilian as secretary-general of the MGK.

Officials admitted that progress was a bit slow in the field of religious freedoms and cultural rights, particularly with regard to rights non-Muslim foundations but said there has been an overall considerable improvement since Turkey launched its EU-inspired reform process in 2001.

Turkey’s strictly-defined loyalty to the principle of secularism is viewed by some as a major obstacle preventing rapid progress in the field of religious freedoms and extending rights enjoyed by minority foundations. Granting further rights to non-Muslim foundations may, in the mind of a certain section of the Turkish bureaucracy, may pave the way for similar demands on the part of Muslim groups, a tendency which may fuel religious extremism and anti-secularist movements.

Following legal changes to address property complaints from minority foundations, representatives from such foundations have filed applications to state authorities, requesting restoration of their ownership rights over approximately 2,000 real estate properties.

Officials have found more than 600 of these properties belonged to the applicant foundations.

The EU has applauded reforms passed by Turkish Parliament but warned of a persisting failure to fully implement the reforms. One major EU criticism regarding reform implementation is that they required a mentality change which has not taken place yet in all law enforcement authorities.

Despite remaining deficiencies, there has been a noteworthy decline in cases of violations, officials said.