EU says pleased with approval of reform package

Jean-Christophe Filori, spokesman of the European Commission, said Friday that Parliament’s attitude towards reforms has reflected Turkey’s resoluteness and will to progress rapidly in the reform process.

Filori said some of the changes that would be implemented with the reforms were of particular importance. Filori highlighted that expressing opinion in a non-violent manner would not be deemed a crime, that radio and television broadcasting in languages other than Turkish would be allowed and that religious and cultural freedoms would be extended.

The laws were expected to send positive signals to the European Union on Ankara’s reform intentions at the start of an EU summit in Greece that opened on Thursday evening.

The EU has said it could consider membership talks with the expanding bloc’s only candidate with a predominantly Muslim population in late 2004 or early 2005. Most of Turkey’s population of 70 million support the bid for EU membership.

Government has plans to finish legislative reforms by the end of this year and use the next year to show reform implementation.

Filori said the EU Commission was insistent on reform implementation and added that the Commission would prepare a progress report on Turkey taking into consideration the success in putting reforms into practice.

He also said that the Commission would encourage the Turkish government to carry on with the reform process. The government has already started working on a new reform package that is expected to help limit the role of the military, a key EU demand.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Friday that the government wanted to pass this package before Parliament starts its summer recess by the end of July.

The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has introduced a raft of laws aimed at winning EU approval since it swept to power in November polls. Brussels has praised the steps but says Ankara must implement them fully.

The sixth harmonization package abolishes a highly controversial article of the Anti-Terror Law allowing the state to suppress non-violent protest against the government and to prosecute and imprison human rights activists and political dissidents.

Parliament excluded from the final draft laws allowing foreign observers to attend Turkey’s general elections.