Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-04-Speech-3-160"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030604.4.3-160"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, the report by Mr Oostlander on Turkey is one of the many which have been submitted from time to time to the European Parliament in connection with the various aspects of relations between this problematic country and the international community and the European Union in particular.
The Oostlander report, however, over and above its more general objective and balanced formulations, is mainly characterised by the clarity and frankness with which it notes and brands Turkey's permanent weaknesses, shortcomings and imperfections in the fields of the rule of law, democratic governance, human and minority rights and its lawful international conduct. In other words, something that should have been done a long time ago, instead of the practice to date of avoiding any candid description of reality for various reasons which serve political and other interests, by demonstrating a poorly conceived tolerance, by having two sets of weights and measures and by citing misleadingly labelled arguments, such as the strategic importance of Turkey, the beloved pretext of its trans-Atlantic protectors, or the alleged need to send positive messages to Ankara – as we heard for the umpteenth time just now – and so on.
The unproductive results of this essential beautification of what is a wholly reprehensible and censurable situation are now obvious and, with all due respect Mr President-in-Office, even the most dreamy apologists of the lenient treatment of and attempts at rapprochement with Turkey must be disappointed, because not even the positive messages which have been sent out for years have resulted in a correspondingly positive response from Turkey, nor has European tolerance been duly appreciated by the Turkish establishment which, on the contrary, has taken it – and perhaps rightly so – as encouragement and acceptance of its policy, whereas if the European position had been expressed earlier with the same courageous honesty of the Oostlander report, perhaps the prospects of the so-called European orientation of Turkey would be more auspicious and there would be fewer reasonable reservations and doubts as to the extent to which this country is legally entitled to be even a candidate for integration into the European family.
As it is better late than never, however, and with the even faint hope that Ankara will finally understand the real message of the European Parliament and will proceed accordingly in its choices, I unreservedly support the Oostlander report."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples