Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-04-Speech-3-155"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030604.4.3-155"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Turkey has won the Eurovision Song Contest, but has not yet scored enough points for the integration festival. Our Turkish friends have undeniably made progress on very many fronts in recent years. If the country meets the Copenhagen criteria, the European Union will have to keep to the promises it has made. I am pleased that, in his well thought-out and sympathetic report, the Christian Democrat Mr Oostlander recognises that the universal values of democracy, constitutional state and human rights can very well be accepted and defended in a country with a clear Muslim majority.
It is crucially important for us that Turkey develops quickly into a fully-fledged democracy, in which the armed forces are subordinate to elected politicians. It is for this reason that the Turkish National Security Council with its present powers and in its present form must be dissolved. Many quarters point to the important role of the military in guarding the secular State. It is said to act as a bulwark against rising Muslim fundamentalism. I should like to point out however that it is not only the task of the military to keep Muslim radicalism at bay, but of all responsible leaders. As far as necessary the structure of the State must be adapted to anchor all the democratic requirements. We therefore support the reforms of the political and legal system the Erdogan government has in mind. We are naturally very curious about the precise details of the new Constitution. This is not a matter of more or less Kemalism, but simply of the compatibility with universal standards and the demands of EU membership.
We are glad that the Erdogan government has now tabled legislative proposals to strengthen freedom of speech and to permit the use of Kurdish in audiovisual resources and election campaigns. Nonetheless I would, with Mr Oostlander, point to the fact that a successful legislative process is not sufficient in itself. It comes down above all to its application in practice. While the police remain free to torture prisoners and human rights continue to be violated, there is no way, as far as I am concerned, that the negotiations can begin. A drastic softening of Turkey’s attitude to the Cyprus problem is also needed. The failure of the Hague conference was attributable in no small part to the rigidity of the Turkish position. Ankara should allow itself to be led more by the positive attitude of the Turks who live in Cyprus than by the negative pronouncements of their leader there.
Finally, Turkey will have to develop a policy of good neighbourliness with Armenia, which can then in due course lead to a political gesture of which the Armenians have such incredibly great need. In December 2004 we are going to take stock, but there cannot yet be any question of accession in the near future. There is still a very long way to go before the whole of Europe, away from the song festival, votes for Turkey."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples