Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-246"
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"en.20000411.9.2-246"2
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"Mr President, all of us who have visited Turkey recently realise that the picture is very complex. The first impression is that there is a sort of EU euphoria in Turkey when it comes to the media. There is a very lively debate in the country. That is very important.
Secondly, the trade unions, popular movements, etc. all say the same thing. They think it is positive that Turkey is a candidate country. We even heard Akin Birdal, on the eve of his imprisonment, say that a new Turkey has been emerging in the last five months.
We must realise that we will have a lot of ups and downs in our relationship and that we will have both progress and setbacks. Perhaps we are seeing something new being born. But the old legal system is still there. That is what is working against democratic fighters such as Akin Birdal. But we also see the reformists who know very well what has to be done according to the Copenhagen criteria. One party leader said to us that at least 65 articles of the constitution and penal code had to be changed.
When we spoke to people in that country during the Socialist Group visit we found three different approaches to EU membership. First you have the anti-reformists, the fundamentalists and so on, who do not want membership. And then you have the reformists – within the government, administration, human rights groups and other parts of civil society – who really want it. They certainly want membership. Then you have a third group, who say that they want Turkey to become a member, but on Turkish terms. Here the Copenhagen criteria, and the Commission and our screening are very important. Almost automatically they will have to deliver if Turkey is to become a member one day.
There are two final impressions and messages received from the people we talked to during the two or three days we were there. The first was that nothing will prevail without a strong civil society in Turkey. People we met from civil society also said they appreciated the help from the European Union, but that some of it was slow. We know that and we would like the Commission to look into that.
The other and last message is that yes, we have the road-map. But we need more precision from the road-map. Help us to be more precise with the road-map because we want to follow it."@en1
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