Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-04-Speech-3-158"
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"en.20030604.4.3-158"2
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"Mr President, Mr Oostlander has written an honest, critical, as well as fair, report on Turkey's application for membership of the European Union. Political clarity is something from which, ultimately, all parties involved benefit. I share the rapporteur's view – and I would refer to paragraph 52 – that, at present, Turkey does not fulfil the conditions for the opening of accession negotiations.
The report underpins this frank conclusion in a convincing manner. Three fundamental inconsistencies with the political criteria of Copenhagen – which are, after all, essential accession conditions – are all-important in this connection: firstly, the army's dominant position in the Turkish state and society, for which, see paragraphs 7, 8 and 9; secondly, the constant discrimination against religious minorities, particularly that of Christian denominations (paragraph 39); and thirdly, the disturbing Kurdish issue, mentioned in paragraphs 34, 35 and 43.
Over the past few weeks, the dominant role of the Turkish armed forces was abundantly clear from the domestic media campaign about possible tensions within the army’s most senior ranks between those in favour of reform and critics of this necessary EU route. The rumour machine says a great deal about the true relationship between civilian and military authorities. The authority relationships in the EU Member States are completely different. In summary, Brussels is outside Ankara's military-political range for the time being.
Meanwhile, the governing AKP does claim freedom of religion for Muslims in its own country, but, according to Western Turkey experts, does not breathe a word about the self-same constitutional right for non-Muslims. The urgent call on the Commission in paragraph 40 to draw up a comparative study between religious freedom in Turkey and the EU Member States is therefore opportune.
I would join the rapporteur in calling on the Turkish authorities to take the Kurdish South-East under their wing in earnest. The Council and the Commission ought to give their 100% backing to a comprehensive development plan for this seriously underdeveloped region. A helping hand of this kind to Turkey would do the Kurdish citizens a world of good, both internally and externally, and I would add this for the sake of Mr Oostlander, even independently of EU relations."@en1
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