EU parliament gives frosty review of Turkey’s entry bid

The European Union assembly adopted a highly critical evaluation of Turkey’s progress towards EU entry conditions, ahead of a decision in December by EU leaders on whether the long-delayed talks should start.

"Settlement of the Cyprus conflict is an essential condition for progress on Turkey’s EU membership application," MEPs also said in adopting the report by 211 votes for, 84 against with 90 abstentions.

Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999, but is the only country among 13 states not to have begun accession talks. It has launched a raft of reforms that it says should be enough to finally start negotiations.

The European Parliament, however, said the largely Muslim country should notably adopt a brand-new constitution to show it was serious about joining the EU.

It said that "absolute priority should be given to the political criteria" of EU membership before the accession talks can begin.

"A modern constitution may form the basis for the modernisation of the Turkish state," the author of the parliament’s report, Dutch conservative Arie Oostlander, said.

The legislature praised the EU-oriented reforms already enacted in Turkey — including some taboo-breaking constitutional amendments — but said implementation on the ground was lagging behind.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, who has been largely sympathetic to Turkey’s EU bid provided it can meet the tough entry criteria, underlined the point.

"Changes in legislation are not enough," the German official told the parliament.

"We have to see changes in practise as well. Again and again, we get reports that the process of reform is being accepted only hesitantly by local administrations," he said.

MEPs also castigated Turkey for "the continuing influence of the army in politics, business, culture and education, continuing torture practices and mistreatment, the intimidation of human rights defenders, the discrimination of religious minorities and the fact that trade union freedom is not fully guaranteed".

They singled out the detention of four activists including Leyla Zana, who were sentenced to 15 years in jail in a much-criticised verdict in 1994 for collaborating with armed Kurdish rebels.

Zana has become something of a cause celebre for the European Parliament, which awarded her its Sakharov prize for human rights in 1995.

The parliament also called on the European Commission, which will deliver a crucial review of Turkey’s EU bid in October, "to take account of the EU’s capacity to absorb new member states".

Ten more countries are due to join the EU on May 1 followed, possibly, by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Many conservative voices who object to Turkey joining have questioned whether the EU could absorb a vast country that straddles Europe and Asia.

But the parliament rejected an amendment promoted by right-wing deputies, including from French President Jacques Chirac’s UMP party, for Turkey to be offered a "privileged partnership" with the EU rather than full membership.